Morocco’s Space Ambitions: King Mohammed VI Invests in Satellite Technology for Disaster Response

"The earthquake that struck the High Atlas region on September 8, 2023 revealed the importance of space capabilities in responding to crises and natural disasters. While the emergency capabilities mobilized were international, with the activation of the international charter ’space and major disasters’, at the request of the UN on behalf of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, this disaster also reminded of the importance of having sovereign capabilities while raising public awareness of the stakes of space," analyzes Mathieu Luinaud, professor of economics at Sciences Po Paris and expert in the space sector in an article titled "Why Mohammed VI has embarked on the space adventure" published by the French newspaper L’Opinion.

Noting that Morocco turned to space long before the powerful and devastating earthquake, he says the kingdom has been among the first powers on the African continent in terms of development. "This is notably the role of the Royal Center for Remote Sensing (CRTS), which acts as a national space agency and manager of satellite imagery distribution in the country," he says, explaining that "the country has a sovereign Earth observation capability thanks to the dual Mohammed-VI A and B satellite program launched in 2017 and 2018 respectively, one of which is dedicated to military espionage uses and the other has a more civilian vocation."

Today, the space industry appears to be an effective tool for development, but also for the fight against terrorism in Africa. "On the domestic front and in an economy where agriculture and fishing account for around 12% of GDP, more intensive use of spatial data offers undeniable prospects for productivity gains for the country, with better control of seeds and fishery resources in a dual perspective of efficiency and preservation for the country," the author of "The Space Industry" in the Que sais-je? collection assures. He will add: "The stakes are also related to national security. The needs for surveillance of the Polisario Front in Western Sahara and strained diplomatic relations with neighboring Algeria justify sovereign surveillance capabilities that are not foreign to the announced renewal of the Kingdom’s two spy satellites that were the subject of a new contract in mid-2023."

Morocco would have decided last summer to entrust the manufacture of its next spy satellite - the Ofek-13, the latest model launched by Israel - to the firm Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), thus excluding the French duo Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) who had designed the Mohammed-VI A satellite, launched in 2017, reported the French newspaper La Tribune in December. "This choice, which may be surprising in its distancing from the historical French partner, can moreover be explained by the recent rapprochement between Morocco and Israel, whose company IAI has been a prime beneficiary, through the signing of a cooperation agreement particularly focused on the construction of a center of excellence at the University of Rabat to develop the space R&D effort and the training of Moroccan experts," the space expert further explains.

At this rate, he predicts, Morocco could become "a land of space industry." "The prefiguration of this new center of expertise is just one of the assets that Morocco could have to become, in the long run, a land of space industry. On the manufacturing level, the geographical proximity with Europe and the pre-existence of easily accessible trade routes can make it a privileged choice of production site location offering, among other things, reduced production costs. This trend is already at work in the automotive industry where major industrialists are making colossal investments in local production chains, allowing them to generate more profit margins that can then be reinvested in R&D, a dynamic now facilitated by multiplying free trade agreements and fast and streamlined administrative procedures," concludes Mathieu Luinaud.