Kenya’s proposed spaceports

The Kenyan government yesterday officially committed the funds to conduct a feasibility study, first proposed in December 2025, on whether it will make sense to build its own spaceport on its eastern coast.

[Directorate of Public-Private Partnership Director General Kefa] Seda said the government had taken another step towards advancing the project through the signing of a funding agreement to support the feasibility study. “This morning, I hosted the Director General of the Kenya Space Agency, Major General Hillary Kipkosgey, for the signing of funding agreement to support the feasibility study for the proposed spaceport project. The funding will facilitate the Transaction Advisor’s technical, commercial and financial assessment of the project and inform the development of an appropriate Public Private Partnership (PPP) structure,” he added.

The feasibility study will examine the proposed spaceport’s viability, investment requirements and commercial prospects before the Government proceeds with the selection of a private sector partner.

The report today made no mention of location, though the previous story in 2025 had suggested the government was considering a location at Kipini, as shown on the map. An earlier story had said that Italy was thinking of reopening the San Marco launch platform, further south from Kipini just off the coast, that had been used in the late 1960s. That project would have Italy work with the Kenyan government. It is not clear if this new feasibility study will study both sites, or just one.

What does seem clear is that there is a lot of pay-offs likely going on within the Kenyan government. It appears that any deal will require money to go to the Kenya Space Agency, as per this new agreement.