Against the odds, Ethiopia's space program shoots for the stars

But Ethiopia has plans, including to build a far more powerful observatory in the northern mountains around Lalibela, far from city lights.

With the authorities now won over that Ethiopia should invest in space science, the government hopes to launch a national space agency - and to put an Ethiopian satellite in orbit within five years, for the monitoring of farmland and to boost communications.

"We are using space applications in every day activities, for mobile phones, weather - space applications are fundamental," said Kelali Adhana, the International Astronomical Union chief for East Africa, based in Ethiopia. "We cannot postpone it, otherwise we allow ourselves to live in poverty."

At Ethiopia's Institute of Technology in the northern town of Mekelle, scientists plan to test the first Ethiopian rocket to go more than 30 kilometers into sky, although that it still far from the 100 kilometer frontier, beyond which the Earth's atmosphere gives way to space proper.

Ethiopian astronauts however, remain far off-even if in a country that lays claim to be the birthplace of humankind, with the remains of the ancient hominid Lucy in Addis Ababa, the prospect of conquering space is an attractive one.

"We are in no hurry to go to deep space," said Belay.