South Africa’s inaugural National Space Conference (NSC) is currently under way in Pretoria (in Metropolitan Tshwane), at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s International Convention Centre. The NSC is jointly organised by the South African National Space Agency (Sansa), the National Earth Observation and Space Secretariat, and the South African Air Force (SAAF).

The NSC, which started on Wednesday and concludes on Friday, supplants the previous Space for National Development and SA-GEO conferences. The theme for this inaugural conference is ‘Space for Inclusive Growth’.

The involvement of the SAAF is a reflection of the growing realisation of the relevance of space technologies to national defence. It also follows recent discussions within the SAAF and the South African National Defence Force.

“Investment in space science and technology supports the objectives of government and every citizen in addressing national challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality through the development of policy strengthening tools and products, necessary skills through human capital development and nurturing of a transformed and growing space industry,” affirmed Sansa CEO Humbulani Mudau. “We must continue enhancing our capability to produce and manage Earth observations. This will support [South Africa] in its efforts to increase food security, implement water management plans, and lessen the impact of climate change and solve many other challenges for the society. We must also keep making data available for better decision-making.”

The conference is providing a platform for the sharing of the latest developments in space (and, indeed, air) technologies, for the benefit of the country. It is also intended to progress information and knowledge regarding space applications, products, services, infrastructure and operations. The NSC includes an exhibition at which 21 entities and companies in the space sector are represented.

One of the local space technology projects being highlighted at the NSC is SAFFIRE. This acronym stands for ‘South African First Integrated Rocket Engine’ and is a liquid propellant rocket being developed by the Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. SAFFIRE is intended to be a low-cost modular engine; ten such engines would power a South African-designed and developed small satellite launch rocket. On the first day of the conference the ASRI unveiled a scale model of their proposed commercial space launch rocket.