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Our Mission
Building Africa’s Capacity for Space Research and Exploration One Analog at a Time.
OPEN AFRIKA is Africa’s consortium hub for space research, sustainability innovation, and analog simulation. Our mission is to prepare Africa for the future of lunar and planetary exploration while creating solutions that benefit communities on Earth.
Space Ungana: The Movement
This initiative is part of SPACE UNGANA, a growing Pan-African movement to unite communities in open collaboration for space futures.
Ungana means to connect, to unite. Through Ubuntu Economy principles—“I am because we are”—we commit to shared prosperity and collective progress toward AU Agenda 2063.
In addition to our Analog Space Research Initiative, Teams are being established to drive our other Pan African initiatives. These include:
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AFCONSAT PACHA
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SPACE DUNIA
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AFRICAN ROCKETRY LEAGUE
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AFCONSAT PACHA (PicoSat and CubeSat Gub for Africa) is an initiative to accelerate PicoSat and CubeSat innovation, uniting universities, researchers, and industry partners to design and operate a shared constellation of small satellites. Through open collaboration and hands-on training, PACHA builds skills, expands research capacity, and delivers real-time data for climate monitoring, agriculture, and connectivity across the continent.
SPACE DUNIA (Swahili dunia = “world” or “universe”) is a metaverse campus dedicated to space science, futures thinking, and open knowledge exchange across Africa and the diaspora. It will provide a persistent 3-D environment where universities, research institutes, NGOs, and students can meet, share, and collaborate—without the limits of geography.
AFRICAN ROCKETRY LEAGUE - The African Rocketry League (ARL) can be described as a continent-wide collaboration network dedicated to student-led rocketry. The League will organize a challenge that will provide Hands-On STEM Training to give African university and technical-college teams the chance to design, build, and launch rockets and build skills that feed directly into Africa’s emerging space and aerospace sectors.
Themes of Inquiry
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Peaceful Space Governance: Preventing conflict, ensuring cooperation.
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Sustainable Habitats & Closed-Loop Systems: Learning from Earth’s ecology.
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Human Resilience & Flourishing: Health, spirituality, and wellbeing in extreme environments.
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Culture & Identity in Space: Storytelling, ritual, and community cohesion.
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Futures Literacy & Innovation: Anticipating multiple futures for space societies.
Why This Matters
The challenges of living in space mirror those of thriving on Earth:
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Clean energy and water systems
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Closed-loop food production
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Waste management and resilient habitats
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Governance and equitable economies
By testing these systems in Africa’s deserts and extreme environments, we develop knowledge and technology that advance space science and sustainable development goals simultaneously.
Our Vision
OPEN AFRIKA is a research consortium—academic institutions, NGOs, industry partners, government agencies, and intergovernmental organizations—committed to establishing Lunar Analog Stations across Africa.
OPEN AFRIKA Principles are to:
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share open-source research and design blueprints.
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train the next generation of African space scientists and engineers,
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build public engagement through art, culture, and storytelling.
Call for 150 Pioneers
Building on the momentum of SPACE UNGANA, our 2025 - 2026 goal is to recruit 150 dedicated members—researchers, educators, engineers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and community leaders—ready to build the foundations of analog space research with locations for start-up habitats in at least 6 African Countries by 2030.
Whether you represent academia, NGOs, industry, government, or IGOs, your expertise and passion are vital. Together we will:
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design and test experimental habitats, life-support, and energy systems,
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launch training programs for analog astronauts and mission control teams,
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share results openly to benefit every African nation.
Apply to Join our Space Unagana Movement Now and Help Us Make History!
join the crew
Open africa special edition for oct 2025
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