DTI heads into space

By Siyabonga Africa, ITWeb junior journalist

Johannesburg, 10 Mar 2009

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be willing to give incentives to companies in the space sector, depending on the outcome of a feasibility study being conducted over six months starting in May.

The DTI recently unveiled the National Space Policy, which is geared towards coordinating the efforts of the public and private sectors in the space industry.

“The DTI will be leading the joint efforts in improving the domestic space industry,” says DTI chief director of advanced manufacturing Nomfuneko Majaja.

Majaja explains the DTI will conduct a space agency framework and future competencies study, which will show the status quo of the space industry in and around SA. At the same time, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will conduct a space audit.

“This will determine what technologies we have, what our capacity is, and how stable the space industry is in the country. It will also guide us in terms of giving incentives to encourage growth,” adds Majaja.

Collaboration is key

Majaja believes the space industry can only be grown with the aid of other government departments such as the DST, the departments of foreign affairs and communications.

“The departments will be working from their specific mandates. Yet it is the DTI's responsibility, as custodian of the policy, to ensure it is implemented in a co-ordinated approach,” she adds.

The DTI is also considering approaching space-faring countries such as the US and other African countries in developing its space agency framework. Majaja says the department sees space as a non-bounded arena in which collaboration is a necessity.

“We are also working with the South African Space Council, which comprises a group of highly knowledgeable individuals who will play an important regulatory role in the space technologies sector of SA.

“In the end, the main goal of the policy is to acquire the appropriate space-based systems for wider socio-economic benefits, as well as our independent access to space.”