Gunship
11th Jun 2003, 16:13
:eek: South Africa may soon get another full-scale space programme within the next five years that could generate more than R1bn in revenue for the country.
One of the country's leading space engineers, Professor Arnold Schoonwinkel of the University of Stellenbosch, will address the Western Cape parliament on Wednesday on the recommended ZA satellite programme.
The cost of such a programme is estimated at just under R200m and is expected to yield R1.2bn.
Schoonwinkel said on Tuesday: "We plan to operate a programme for two satellites in a five-year period. Both will be image-observation satellites."
Schoonwinkel was in charge of the Sunsat programme, South Africa and Africa's first satellite, that was successfully launched in 1999. A copy of Sunsat 1 was recently sold in the United States.
The new programme could see a highly secret test site of the Armscor affiliate, Houwteq, which was mothballed in the early 1990s, reopened.
The satellite test site was built covertly near Grabouw in the 1980s at a cost of about R5bn.
At least three partly completed flight-module satellites have been housed in a sealed, dust-free assembly hall for nearly a decade.
Three other countries will join South Africa in its latest space-technology venture - Bavaria (Germany), Algeria and Nigeria. Each of the countries will develop a satellite and put it in orbit.
The four will be launched to form a constellation around the earth.
"We will be able to use the data from all four satellites. Each country will share in the benefits of the technology, the training and the creation of industries," said Schoonwinkel. :ok:
One of the country's leading space engineers, Professor Arnold Schoonwinkel of the University of Stellenbosch, will address the Western Cape parliament on Wednesday on the recommended ZA satellite programme.
The cost of such a programme is estimated at just under R200m and is expected to yield R1.2bn.
Schoonwinkel said on Tuesday: "We plan to operate a programme for two satellites in a five-year period. Both will be image-observation satellites."
Schoonwinkel was in charge of the Sunsat programme, South Africa and Africa's first satellite, that was successfully launched in 1999. A copy of Sunsat 1 was recently sold in the United States.
The new programme could see a highly secret test site of the Armscor affiliate, Houwteq, which was mothballed in the early 1990s, reopened.
The satellite test site was built covertly near Grabouw in the 1980s at a cost of about R5bn.
At least three partly completed flight-module satellites have been housed in a sealed, dust-free assembly hall for nearly a decade.
Three other countries will join South Africa in its latest space-technology venture - Bavaria (Germany), Algeria and Nigeria. Each of the countries will develop a satellite and put it in orbit.
The four will be launched to form a constellation around the earth.
"We will be able to use the data from all four satellites. Each country will share in the benefits of the technology, the training and the creation of industries," said Schoonwinkel. :ok: