SGAC Madagascar
National Points of Contact
Madagascar
Welcome to Madagascar’s country page for SGAC!
Madagascar is an African sub-saharan country. It is known for the beauty of its beaches and its richness in biodiversity. Its current population is estimated at 27 million which is mainly young, which is a great asset to the country.
In the country’s capital, Antananarivo, NASA established its Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) at Imerintsiatosika between the years 1964 and 1975, which is now out of service. Currently, 15 km from this old site is the 32m Arivonimamo antenna which will be part of the African VLBI Network, and will be used in radio astronomy. Astronomy is developing in the country, with the opening of a master’s degree in astrophysics at the University of Antananarivo in 2014. Since 2017, the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy also runs in Madagascar. With global advances in the field of space sectors, there is an emergence of many passionate in space science, astronomy and STEM in general throughout Madagascar. Associations are currently trying to promote these areas across the country. A country with great human potential, where a lot of things need to be done and to be developed in the space sector.
In 2021, seven Malagasy took part in the First Global Challenge 2021 which had the main theme :Discover and recover. Malagasy team assembled and launched a CubeSat for monitoring climate change. They won 10th place at the end of this competition. Currently Madagascar is really affected by climate change, and is on the brink of experiencing the world’s first “climate change famine”, according to the United Nations. But with the space sector, we are convinced that we can contribute to this fight against global warming in this country.
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Young Space Activities Overview in Madagascar
- SGAC Madagascar is establishing connections with professional and amateur organizations and institutions in the field of space activities which could become our partners.
- SGAC Madagascar is recruiting a second NPoC.
- LAMPS (Leveraging AstronoMy site to Promote STEM), an event to promote STEM and Astronomy in public secondary and middle schools was organized in the site which will host the first radio telescope for Madagascar.
- Since few years, some institutions and organizations are organizing event related to space:
- World Space Week organized by Haikintana Astronomy Association
- Each year, on the occasion of World Space Week, a conference is organized by the U.S Embassy of Madagascar. For example, in 2020, the SGAC NPoC for Madagascar was invited to give a talk.
- Each year Asteroid Day and On the Moon Again are organized by Haikintana Astronomy Association.
- In May 2018, “SKA-driven Big Data challenge in Africa” was held in Nosy Be and was the first-ever international astronomy conference in this country.
Young Space Activities Overview in Madagascar
SGAC Events
| Events Name | Event Host City | Event Date | SGAC link |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Space Week | Antananarivo | Between 4-10 October 2022 |
Visuals
World Space Week 2014, Q&A session with NASA Astronauts Daniel Tani at Institut Français de Madagascar.
Asteroid Day 2018 organized by Haikintana Astronomy Association.
The 32-m dish of Arivonimamo which will be converted into radio dish and a DARA Madagascar cohort.
Madagascar’s Betsiboka River Seen From Orbit, … an example of dramatic erosion… (Credits: ESA/NASA-T. Pesquet)
Launch of a cubesat by First Global Madagascar Team