Dr. Zolana João serves as the first General Manager of Angola’s national space office, where he drives engineering and research challenges on communication and earth observation satellite launches with partner agencies and governments worldwide. He was instrumental in designing the current Angolan Space Strategy. 

 

 In addition to launching ANGOSAT-2 into orbit to provide broadband communication services in Africa and to minimize the digital divide on the continent, he has also leveraged Earth-observing satellites to detect oil spills in the ocean and to predict agricultural crop yields, thus using space to support progress toward the SDGs. He holds a Doctoral engineering degree from George Washington University, USA, specializing in managing large-scale and complex projects.