Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President gets Russian ticket to space

This makes him the first African within the Central African sub-region to embark on this landmark journey if all processes are approved.

The proposal was made by ROSCOSMOS during a visit by Mangué to the operations centre of the Russian company to certify its potential and discuss his country’s desire to launch its own communications and tracking satellite into space in the future.

Announcing this on his official X (formerly Twitter) page, he said, “During the discussion of the proposals, those responsible for #Roscosmos have invited me to be the 1st from our African region to embark on a space trip and I have accepted".

Mangué has to undergo the relevant physical examinations or choose someone to represent him ahead of the trip.

Among other things, the vice president expressed excitement about observations he made at the Russian Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

He also got to know about the training processes cosmonauts go through while examining several simulators.

"Here we really understand how difficult this profession is and how difficult it is to prepare a person for flight. Having seen this, we understand that not everyone can go into space," the vice president said, noting that he sees great potential in cooperation with Russia, media outlet Sputnik Africa reported.

ROSCOSMOS is a State Corporation that was established in August 2015 to oversee and implement a comprehensive reform of the Russian space industry. The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known simply as Roscosmos, is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research.

The company indicated plans to enhance space cooperation within the African continent and carry out joint projects in space exploration during the second Russia-Africa Summit held in July 2023.