The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will hold workshops on a 20-year satellite launch plan for the country at the end of this month, with the strategy aimed at enabling SA to launch its own satellites.
Science and technology minister Naledi Pandor touched on the plan at the unveiling of the South African National Space Agency and National Space Strategy, in December.
“The space industry is now big business. It is not simply a matter of space travel. It's also about an industry that has enormous potential future growth,” she said.
She quoted the UK strategy as saying the overall world market for the space industry is likely to grow from £160 billion in 2008, to at least £400 billion by 2030.
“Over the next five years, SA plans to develop a formal space programme. In the past, there was little coordination of our space activities.”
As part of this programme, and in light of the lessons learned with the delays experienced in the launch of SumbandilaSat, the minister said the department is also looking at redeveloping SA's launch capabilities through defining a 20-year launch plan.
Political will
Deputy director-general of research development and innovation at the DST Val Munsami says the launch plan is multi-pronged since it will incorporate the leveraging of international partnerships for seamless launches, as well as conducting a feasibility study for launch capability in SA.
“As the Department of Science and Technology, we have to at least explore the feasibility of having our own launch capability as a country.”
She adds that the 20-year timeline could be found to be too optimistic or conservative, depending on the availability of resources.
Although considerable time is required to develop the infrastructure and human capital, Munsami says 20 years is a reasonable timeframe to achieve them.
“We would also need to look at any available options to fast-track this development through forging international partnerships with other space-fairing nations.”
Munsami says political will to see the plan through is the most important element in achieving the capability.
“We would also need sound international partnerships to complement the national skills to expedite the plan, and financial backing for the plan.”
Constellation launch
SA is currently unable to launch its own satellites, says the deputy director general.
“Around 1988, the South African government initiated a project to develop a low-earth orbit reconnaissance satellite system for the air force that resulted in Greensat. This project was abandoned in 1994 and SA lost valuable technological development and skilled people in this area.
“The lesson learned from the Sumbandila project is how vital it is to launch your satellite on schedule. The ability to launch our own satellites gives us self-reliance and independence, and it will allow SA to plan its launch schedules better.”
Munsami also says having this capability is an important step, because of a series of satellites SA is planning to launch in the next 10 to 15 years.
The DST previously announced a constellation of satellites similar to SumbandilaSat is being planned to increase the availability of satellite data for diverse applications.
The department says several African countries will participate in this joint venture and will eventually share in the data produced by the African Resource Management Constellation, especially for disaster monitoring applications.
“This [launch capability] could also place SA in good standing to be viewed as an alternative for countries who wish to launch their satellites,” adds Munsami.
Consultative workshops on the launch plan with relevant stakeholders will take place later this month, according to the deputy director-general.
One workshop will be held in Cape Town, on 28 January.
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