TREKKIE TOWN: SA goes boldly into space race despite technical black holes

South Africa is determined to make strides in the space race, despite facing significant technical challenges. The country, which spends approximately R30-billion annually on procuring external communication services, aims to reduce this dependency by developing a locally owned telecommunications satellite. In 2025, South Africa successfully participated in the SpaceX Transporter-14 launch, with 116 products sourced from six local space industry companies.

However, just two months prior, there was considerable confusion and disagreement among regulators regarding the direction of the local space industry. This situation can be traced back to the 2015/2016 initiative to draft a National Satellite Communication Strategy, which aimed to end reliance on foreign satellite providers and safeguard national sovereignty.

Despite these efforts, South Africa currently grapples with acute technical constraints, such as a shortage of systems engineers, limited manufacturing capacity, and aging infrastructure. Additionally, the country lacks a dedicated technical standards committee under the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to keep pace with rapid technological advancements.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.