Lamu Spaceport

Lamu Spaceport is a project within the Industry theme.

What it is

Describe the project in a few sentences, and cite where each fact comes from.

A 2024 conference paper by Kurt Gugelev-Shapiro sets out the drivers for a spaceport on the Kenyan coast, though it focuses on the existing Broglio Space Center at Malindi. It argues that the coast’s equatorial position and eastward-facing ocean improve fuel efficiency and satellite deployment trajectories.¹ It also says the eastward orientation of the coastline provides a naturally safe crash zone over the ocean for launch accidents or staging jettisons.² On cost, the paper gives a rough estimate of a mass saving of roughly 151 kg per Soyuz launch compared with Cape Canaveral, or $755,000 per launch, and notes that the calculation makes some assumptions.² It names the deep-water port of Lamu, less than 120 km from Malindi, and the LAPSSet Corridor highway project as links to the launch location.³

A case study paper by Meshack Ndiritu and Selina Hayes, presented at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in 2024, takes up the case for a public private partnership to establish an equatorial spaceport. Its abstract says the demand for more spaceports is rising, and estimates that the population of active satellites in orbit is surpassing 10,000, with an average of 50 launched weekly.⁴ In its base case scenario, 27,000 active satellites are foreseen by the end of 2030, implying an annual launch capability of 15 kilotons (Chris Daehnick, 2023).⁴ The paper quotes Space News saying that Space Launch Delta 45 received 329 requests for launch dates on the Eastern Range, of which it approved 238, leading to 58 launches and 11 scrubs for weather or technical issues, and presents this as showing the need to seek non-traditional launch sites.⁴ The inherent advantages it lists for an equatorial spaceport are maximizing launch efficiency, increasing payload capacity, stable weather conditions for launches, and enabling access to various orbital inclinations.⁴ The paper presents a practical approach for establishing an equatorial spaceport off the Kenyan coast.⁴

Status and timeline

Who is involved

• Charles Mwangi - Kenya Space Agency
• Meshack Ndiritu
• Selina Hayes
• Kurt Gugelev

Sources

• Terms of Reference for the PPP tender for the Lamu Space Port, Government of Kenya (The National Treasury, State Department for Public Investments and Assets Management), issued 16 December 2025.
• Unlocking New Horizons: The Role of Kenya’s Broglio Space Center in the Commercial Space Era, Kurt Gugelev-Shapiro, AIAA Region 2 Conference manuscript, 5 March 2024.
• Case Study for Public Private Partnership to Establish an Equatorial Spaceport, Meshack Ndiritu and Selina Hayes, 75th International Astronautical Congress, 2024.