Nigeria would design, fabricate, test and launch its indigenous satellite by 2018, Minister of Science and Technology, Abdu Bulama, said on Tuesday.

The minister disclosed this in Abuja when he inspected facilities at the Obasanjo Space Center of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

The center had the mandate to launch Nigeria's first indigenous satellite by 2018, Bulama told reporters.

He described space science and technology program as an important component of the Nigerian dream.

According to him, the satellite program has a very positive role in the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration.

Bulama directed that the assembly, testing and integration center, and the Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellite, which are under construction, should be completed by 2015.

The minister said competence and capabilities in satellite technology serve as a tool for national growth and a huge contribution to the development and benefit of mankind.