He said the student, who hails from Sibu, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace studies at the University of Southern California.

“They are going to launch nanosatellites in the US with a Sarawakian there in the team,” he was quoted by the Borneo Post as saying.

The Sarawakian student’s identity, however, was not revealed.

Abang Johari mentioned the student when talking about Sarawak’s push into aerospace, satellite technology and the digital economy.

He said the future depends on data or information, artificial intelligence and space-based technologies, including satellite systems to support cloud computing and information infrastructure.

“That means we must have our own satellite,” he said, adding that the state government plans to establish an aerospace faculty at i-CATS University College.