South African Space Agency To Be Launched

Africa might not be the first continent that comes to mind when it comes to space exploration, but that could soon change.

South African Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena says the formation of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) is underway and its launch will be announced soon, most likely after the national elections on April 22. "Everything is in place, except for the board," Mangena said. According to the National Space Agency legislation, the Agency’s objectives will include promotion of the peaceful use of space, advancing scientific, technological and engineering capabilities and related research in South Africa SANSA’s initial task will be to integrate the country’s varied space observatories and technical facilities, including the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) based in Cape Town, which was founded in as the Royal Observatory in 1820 as well as the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) based near Windhoek, the Namibian capital. The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is based at Sutherland in a mountainous region north of Cape Town. It is the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, but is not yet fully operational. When commissioned, it will be able to record light values from space equivalent to a candle flame on the moon. Perhaps the best-known space facility is the tracking station at Hartebeeshoek, northwest of Johannesburg, which played an important role in tracking NASA missions above the Southern Hemisphere, including the Apollo moon shots. The first images of another planet — Mars — were received from the Mariner IV spacecraft.

SANSA

Mariner IV Mars Photo

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South Africa is also competing to host the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be the equivalent of 150 soccer fields, about 100 times larger than any receiving surface that now exists. NASA hoisted aloft the country’s first and so far only satellite, Sunsat, developed by a team of scientists at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town in 1999. A second satellite, SumbandilaSat, was to have been launched by Russia but recurring problems have prevented the launch so far.