South African Space Facilities

9-02-10

The Republic of South Africa after many year of having mothballed its launch infrastructure and space launch vehicle industry capability as a part of its denuclearization decisions is once again thinking about bring back to life this technological satellite launch capability to employee South Africans for its own satellite launch services. Recognizing that it is very expensive to rebuild this capability it however is an investment in the basic science and technologies of the country to help push its economy with the funds all spent right at home. Like other nations, South Africa is finding that the many millions of capital required for its own designed and built satellites to be launched by other countries is taking an investment from its own nation in real S & T economic terms.

Thus in February 2010 Science & Technology Minister Naledi Pandor while demonstrating the recently first launched Sumbandila microsatellite has started an investigative inquiry into the potential possibilities of restarting the R5b space program effort for itself and other countries. It could with funds provided and political will to support the effort make it possible for South Africa to reacquire the mothballed launch facilities and its associated support infrastructure in addition to its aerospace industry design, development and manufacturing capability.

They are talking about the three solid motor stages RSA-3 and eventually the RSA-4 space satellite launch vehicle project and its military Air Force, Overberg test range [OTR] launch infrastructure outside Bredasdorp along with Houwteq in the Granbouw area in order to fast track kick start its space capability reacquisition.

Other Facilities

The Satellite Applications Centre of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is located at Hartebeesthoek, in the vicinity of Johannesburg. It has business interests in remote sensing and satellite tracking services. Remote sensing as a business is based on the reception, processing and distribution of resource data from the polar orbiting satellites of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the LANDSAT thematic mapper sensor, the French SPOT series (panchromatic and multispectral data) and the SAR sensors of ESA ERS-1 and ERS-2. Digital archives are maintained; in some cases the records date from 1972. Thanks to the geographic position of the Centre at Hartebeesthoek, its data acquisition programmes cover the entire southern African region up to the equator, including also Madagascar.

Data products conforming to international standards are being supplied to users worldwide, and are increasingly being supplemented by value-added products in map format, for use in GIS.

The Centre has its second area of business in the provision of tracking, telemetry and command services, 24 hours per day, all year round. The facility is part of the CNES 2-gigahertz network.