Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor reported recently that the South African National Space Agency (Sansa) had made significant progress in developing the country’s next earth observation (EO) satellite. She was giving the keynote address at the opening of the 37th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, in Pretoria.

“Sansa is in the final stages of the development of an optical EO satellite to support food security and disaster management across the continent,” she said. “The optical satellite is a key part of South Africa’s contribution to a broader continental effort to leverage the potential of space for development. Sansa and other South African science-based organisations are primed to support the African space programme.”

Pandor also reported that Sansa had recently completed its new strategic framework for the next five years. “It positions the agency as a provider of space-based products and services through co-development with partners in the region and throughout the African continent. The EO-based products and services support the strengthening of country planning and evidence-based policy formulation throughout the continent.”

She emphasised the importance of EO for South Africa. “We use satellite imagery extensively in South Africa to support the different legislative mandates of government. “The socioeconomic benefits of satellite imagery in planning and decision-making have long been recognised globally.” She cited the example of satellite imagery from the SPOT satellite; Sansa used this to create a natural-colour mosaic covering the whole land area of South Africa every year. “The mosaic, together with its underlying base imagery, is provided without charge to national government departments, provincial government departments, parastatals, NGOs (nongovernmental organisations), science councils and tertiary education institutions. “A single licence multi-user agreement which was negotiated by Sansa ensures affordable use of such imagery.”

She hailed the recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Sansa and the Nepad Agency. “[W]e were absolutely thrilled when Sansa signed the MoU with Nepad,” she asserted. “The MoU enables Sansa to provide EO products and services that support the implementation of key programmes, such as sustainable agriculture and food security, integrated water resources management, sustainable forestry management, as well as urban planning and infrastructure monitoring.”

She highlighted that the Nepad 2025 Vision on the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme, the Action Plan for the Environment Initiative and the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative were all dependent on spatial decision support systems for success. In turn, Sansa’s satellite remote sensing-based products and services “play a fundamental role in aiding [the] spatial decision support systems”.

Africa needed the support of space-based services and products to achieve its development goals, highlighted Sansa CEO Dr Val Munsami in his address to the symposium. “Africa covers 22% of the earth’s [land] area and 6% of the global surface area,” he pointed out. “There are 55 countries in Africa. Africa is the world’s hottest continent, with over a third being desert. “Over 90% of the soil is unsuitable for agriculture.” Africa also suffers from poverty but is rich in mineral and hydrocarbon resources.

The African Union (AU) has, he noted, eight directorates with, between them, a total of 40 assigned objectives. Of these, Munsami observed, 35 need space support. But South Africa is the only African country in the top 30 countries in terms of space expenditure and research output. However, the AU adopted an African Space Policy and an African Space Strategy in January last year. The AU further directed that studies be done on the governance structure for African space activities, space capability audits, and the Implementation Plan. Some progress has been done on all of these issues. With regard to space, some 14 user requirements for Africa have been identified.

South Africa was exploring two initiatives in particular, he reported. The first, a spin-off from the needs of the giant international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project (Phase 1 of which will be cohosted by South Africa and Australia), is high-performance computing. Because of the SKA, South Africa has been developing high-performance computing. This capability can, however, also be applied to other areas. One other such area, identified as a priority by South Africa, is EO.

The second initiative is the Pan African Space University, for which South Africa has been granted the hosting rights. This will focus on three core areas – space engineering, space science and space applications – and a number of important but ancillary fields.

“One of the key aspects is: How do we bring together all the institutes we have in countries on the continent to shape an African space programme?” queried Munsami. He highlighted the importance of partnerships in this regard.