Initial talks have been held between Egypt and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency with a view to American assistance to the Nasser regime’s rocket and space capabilities, the Electronic News, a Fairchild publication, has reported from Cairo.
The electronic industry’s weekly newspaper reported that “in general terms, the outlook is considered optimistic: Cairo has signed an investment guarantee agreement with Washington; U.S. electronics gear is said to be preferred here; several American electronics firms are currently engaged in important projects in Cairo and nearby.”
Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser is seeking contacts on the pretext of furthering his space efforts. Sources close to the Egyptian Government told Fairchild News Service that Cairo is “quite aware of the great costs involved in independent space research, and is seeking ways to work with NASA so Egyptian scientists trained in electronics and aerospace–some 200 are currently studying in the United States–can maintain a ‘space capability.’
According to the Fairchild report, “objections voiced about German technical participation in Egyptian rocket development were met last year with the Cairo explanation the Germans were working only on scientific space projects. Some observers viewed the new announcement of a ‘scientific’ two-stage rocket as at least a partial attempt to legitimize the German scientists’ presence” in Egypt.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
