SANSA – Award-Winning SANSA Continues to Boost African Profile

Perhaps more so than at any point in recent history, science and technology is now more lauded and expected to deliver results. South Africa, and the rest of the world, desperately looks to the scientific community for a solution to the coronavirus pandemic. Governments around the world seek the advice of the scientific population, technology innovators are working day and night to come up with products that would normally take years, and analysts are desperate for data to improve decision making and forecasting. If there was ever a time for science and technology to prove its worth, that time is now.

But being under pressure to drum up results and justify investments is not a new scenario for scientists and technologists. Ever since the two vital disciplines became a part of everyday society in the 19^th century, expectation has been heaped on those involved to underpin economic advances, improvements in health systems, education and infrastructure. Today, science is a driver of government decision making.

In October 2017, Dr Valanathan Munsami CEO of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) told Enterprise Africa that he was keen for SANSA to aid in the use of science and technology – especially space information – for government policy making and future planning.

Enterprise Africa speaks to SANSA once again, this time to MD Space Science Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell to find out what progress has been made. She confirms that Munsami’s vision is materialising.

“We have developed policy briefs for government to use on specific issues, we are making sure that we are sitting on government committees – our execs are on committees for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, earth observation, space weather and communications and navigation – so we are ensuring our expertise are used to aid decision making in the country.

“Our visibility as a Space Agency over the past few years has really increased. I think the future is looking very good for SANSA. The challenges like what we are currently experiencing will come over the hill and we have to be prepared but we need to keep in touch with our government partners and our ministry to ensure we deliver on what they want and expect, so that they can demonstrate the incredible benefits SANSA provides for government, industry and all citizens of this country.”

POSTPONED NOT CANCELLED

Even while studying space and out-of-this-world phenomenon, SANSA is not immune to challenges faced on earth. The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc in the agency’s diary, and in March it was announced that the international conference on space operations, SpaceOps 2020 – set to be held in May in Cape Town for the first time on African soil – had to be postponed.

“The health and safety of our employees and guests is paramount in everything we do so we didn’t take the decision lightly,” insists McKinnell. “We used facts from our government and other governments and we are happy that the international organisers have agreed to postpone for a year and not cancel completely. We still feel that Africa is a great location and we would like to be the agency that hosts the conference for the first time on the African continent. We are looking forward to doing so in 2021 and because it has been postponed and not cancelled it means that all of our preparations have not gone to waste and all of the great things we have promised will come to fruition.”

Major travel restrictions in place all over the world, clamp downs on public gatherings, and concerns over spread of the virus have resulted in too many being unable to attend. “One of the things we believe in very strongly is that the work we do must be open to all,” says McKinnell.

SANSA is not alone in its feeling of disappointment that gatherings have had to be postponed. Many shows around the world have been cancelled or rescheduled and this is an extension of the difficult conditions imposed by governments to protect citizens.

“We are not running as normal. We have had to cut travel altogether. Our business is global so people are feeling it and many people are nervous. The situation will only push us faster into the age of teleconferencing and the use of virtual technology platforms. SANSA has put all efforts in place to ensure business continuity and our staff have been equipped to continue to deliver on our mandate by working from home during this difficult time.”

SpaceOps 2020 has been rearranged for 3 – 7 May 2021 and will take place at Cape Town International Convention Centre.

PROJECTS COMING TO FRUITION

Recent events aside, the past financial year has been a positive one for SANSA. As trust and respect in some State-Owned Entities has waned significantly, SANSA has operated without financial mismanagement or state capture, and has consistently delivered on its promises, adding to decision making capability and knowledge base for the country.

Even as the South African economy has hit rock bottom, SANSA’s work has resumed, and the company continues to create international relationships that are fixing the country’s position on the map.

“We do not sit back and say ‘there is no money and government can’t help us’. We are a public entity and we feel very strongly that we have a very important role to play in the SA government landscape,” says McKinnell. “Part of that role is ensuring the value we bring to the nation is significant. While we might be waiting for the tide to turn, it is important for us to be working on the things we do have control over; working on ensuring the country understands our value and the services we provide to the African continent, while continually finding new ways in which we can use space to benefit the daily lives of mankind – that is important in Africa.”

Currently, SANSA is busy planning the launch of a new space weather centre, where scientists will use ground-based infrastructure to scan the skies and predict space weather that could impact earth, such as solar flares. Space weather has the potential to be devastating for life on earth if it is not monitored. Some events could knock out power and utility grids, disrupt communications, endanger transportation, and much more.

The new centre, which will be located at SANSA’s site in Hermanus, will demonstrate a huge leap forward for the use of space knowledge on the continent, and will act as a beacon for scientists around the world who need to collate data. SANSA received designation by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to be one of two regional suppliers of space weather information including forecasting to the global aviation industry.

“The project is at the end of its first year and the first year included a considerable amount of planning and prep,” explains McKinnell. “We will be putting up an entirely new building dedicated to space weather monitoring and research on our site in Hermanus and we are just about to appoint an architect who will do the design so that we can break ground this year. We have done a lot of product and service development in the background. We have a very strong research team and we have been pushing for products that come out of research to be used in space weather prediction and forecasting. We are into the development phase and we are proud of the team for moving this project forward in a short space of time.

“Our participation on an international level in the space weather arena, which we need in order to promote the centre, has been incredible,” she adds. “We have participated in meetings with the aviation sector, we have participated at a very high level at the European Space Weather Week and other space weather conferences across the word. We have strengthened our partnerships, joining forces with a consortium of European countries to make sure we can provide space weather information along a consistent latitude line. The project is on the way and we are hoping to see tangible outputs from the project in 2021.”

Currently, SANSA runs a limited focus space weather centre and has proven itself by serving various South African industries for a decade. The next big milestone in the project lifecycle will be breaking ground for the new centre.

“The project is about taking our capability and building on it and turning out a fully operational centre with dedicated staff and dedicated operational resources, with the ability to serve a wider range of customers.

“The centre will provide 24/7 forecast predications and verifications of the impact that space weather events will have on our technological systems. We are focusing on high-frequency communications, navigation systems, radiation exposure at aviation altitudes, and satellite communications,” states McKinnell.

If SANSA is able to undertake forecasting and predictions across these four areas, it can serve defence, energy, aviation, communications and many more sectors. “We have looked carefully at how we can ensure our 24/7 operational centre can maximise our ability to serve the largest number of sectors. Through our designation as the space weather regional warning centre for Africa it is our ambition to be the experts on the African continent. We are working closely with our American and European partners to ensure that we provide a global service where they see us as their African experts,” details McKinnell.

AFRICAN CONNECTIONS

All at SANSA are clear that space operations are not a South African privilege. The international community must benefit from research and development beyond our atmosphere. But with well-established and well-funded operations, other regions of the world are catered for when it comes to utilising important space-based knowledge. This is why the work of SANSA must benefit Africa as a whole and add to the already fantastic work going on around the world.

In 2020, SANSA will continue with projects on the continent, rolling out more infrastructure and monitoring equipment to help with decision making, while partnering with regional players.

“Up until recently, when we have put space monitoring instrumentation in place all over Africa, it has been for research purposes only and that means you run the instrument in campaign mode,” explains McKinnell. “As long as it is sitting there running and capturing data, you’re fine. But when you want to run in operational mode so that a centre can use the data as it is collected, it becomes a whole different ball game. You need ensured reliability, power sources, internet access and we have been looking at African partners who can provide that.”

Already active with the major African space players – Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Morocco – SANSA is keen to further develop continental relations. Partnerships are being garnered in Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia and more.

“We are growing our African collaborations hugely,” states McKinnell. “Egypt has just won the rights to host the African Space Agency so they are a key partner for us. We will be signing an MoU with the Egyptian space agency later this year. With recent developments, that has been delayed but it will happen. We had a team out in Zambia commissioning infrastructure installations with a Zambian partner. Uganda is also coming onboard; after just promulgating their national space programme they are now looking for partners. We already do a lot of work with Uganda in universities as previously they would send a lot of their students to be trained at SANSA on space related subjects. We also do a lot of work in Namibia where we have two permanent geomagnetic field stations.”

The new SANSA space weather centre will further the development of these relationships while the agency gets feet on the ground to continue to provide solutions to real problems.  

“There is a lot of water resource and disaster management applications that are coming out of the continent. These are based on the needs of various African governments that our space community is helping to address, and I think that is a very positive thing.

“Our position as a regional warning centre for space weather over Africa has also opened many doors for us. We are now sitting on international organisations around the world where we are seen as the experts in Africa.”

PROUDLY SA SATELLITE

In 1999, South Africa launched its first satellite into orbit from an Airforce base in America. SUNSAT’s (Stellenbosch UNiversity SATellite) purpose was to enhance engineering capability at the university, build international collaboration, and buoy interest in technical careers and space science among youngsters. In 2009, South Africa’s next satellite was launched onboard a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan. SumbandilaSat was a fresh experiment in space tech viability and affordability, and was designed to monitor and manage disasters such as flooding, oil spills and fires within Southern Africa.

These projects served as the perfect base for the satellite industry to boom in South Africa, and with the onset of CubeSat technology – miniature satellites with powerful research and communication powers – there has been a surge in development.

“In the last two years, South Africa has seen a growth in the CubeSat industry,” confirms McKinnell. “Around 2002, there was just one university in South Africa with a programme on CubeSat technology. They successfully launched the first CubeSat and after that, things really took off. We now have several universities or educational centres running CubeSat projects and South Africa has two successful CubeSats flying – 1 x 1U and 1 x 3U – and we are currently working on the third. Government is investing in this as it ticks a lot of boxes. It’s educational, its proudly South African, and it encourages students into the field as they can be part of the project from concept to launch.”

All of South Africa’s current efforts have been launched in collaboration with international agencies and partner organisations. In the future, SANSA is keen to put a totally South African satellite into orbit, further demonstrating its expertise as the industry leader on the continent. While McKinnell cannot set a concrete date for when the launch of a more sophisticated instrument might take place, she is certain it will happen.

“It is expensive so it is taking a bit longer but we still have that in mind,” she says. “While we are extremely good at measuring space from the ground, our aim and ambition is to have a proudly South African, fully developed and built satellite in space very soon.

“The economic outlook of the country, and the region, does have an impact because a satellite build programme is extremely expensive. But there has been a lot of very positive moves in the satellite industry. We have a very dynamic and growing space industry in the Western Cape where a number of SMME companies have been set up to provide satellite build services and most of them are getting international contracts because of the reasonable costs they can offer by doing this in South Africa. Part of SANSA’s mandate is to stimulate that industry and to advise government on satellite build programmes.”

RAISING THE PROFILE

In this, SANSA’s tenth year of official existence, raising awareness of the work that is done and ensuring the South African public back the work of the agency has become more important. As the economy moves into emergency status, funding will become more strained than ever, and it is vital that SANSA can continue to showcase its worth.

Fortunately, the agency has been on a good run of form recently. Striking deals with NASA and picking up global awards have gone a long way in promoting its value.

In November 2019, SANSA collected the Sustainable Development Goals GEO award in recognition of its work in producing earth observation data surrounding land consumption for Stats SA. The multi-stakeholder programme was awarded at a ceremony in Canberra, Australia.

“It was an incredibly proud moment for the agency as the sustainable development goals are extremely important for us. We try to align our strategy and work towards them. It helps to prove our value and proves the use of earth observation when solving real problems that countries have,” says McKinnell.

In February 2020, SANSA inked a new contract with NASA to further progress on the major Artemis project, investing in Deep Space Communications studies. The agencies will work together to advance technical and environmental research on the potential to establish a ground station in South Africa that will support future near-Earth and deep space exploration, including the Artemis mission to send the first woman and the next man to the surface of the Moon.

Marcus Watkins, Director of the NASA Management Office, said: “Having worked with the South African government on numerous projects in the past, it is fitting to collaborate with SANSA on this study agreement, not only because of the geographical positioning of South Africa but more so the technical capabilities and the consistent quality of work produced by SANSA within the Space Operations arena over the years.”

McKinnell agreed saying: “The Deep Space Network and the partnership with NASA is also one of our priority projects along with the space weather project. It shows their confidence in us and we had done a lot of leg work to show that our site and South Africa is a very important geographic location for NASA’s Artemis programme. It also means that SANSA as an African space agency will be able to participate in some way in NASA’s moon and mars missions.

“That puts the wow factors back into space. We use space as a driver to create excitement around science and technology and we need those bits of excitement to provide that wow factor. Many people aspire to be a part of missions like this and so we are bringing it closer to the homes of South Africans.”  

These developments are so important for an organisation like SANSA, under pressure to deliver results so as to not end up like other State-Owned Entities and totally lacking in confidence. McKinnell is hopeful that the success realised in recent months can continue and catalyse the start of future projects and income generation.

“We cannot sit back and expect things to happen on their own. It is very important for us to keep our trust relationship with government. Government has made a commitment to the agency and the projects we have on the table at the moment, and that commitment has given us the confidence to push forward,” she says. “The outcome and the results from these projects will grow our operations so we can overcome some challenges. Some projects will lead to revenue generating activities which will help with the economic situation, some projects will lead to bigger projects, and that will continue to put South Africa on the map. We have to use taxpayer money extremely wisely. What we have managed to do as an agency is show our value proposition to government and think outside the box in terms of what the country needs to put us on the map but also ensure sustainability of operations in the future.”

LOADED WITH OPTIMISM  

Despite current circumstances, McKinnell and SANSA look to the future with optimism. The realisation that space knowledge can provide tangible benefits in emerging economies is starting to result in a uniform acceptance of the field in many government strategies. The technology utilised to explore and research space, from the ground and in orbit, is improving at an exponential rate, and the results of projects that make use of space are clearly demonstrating the benefits for enhanced space programmes.

“Over the last ten years, there has been a real elevation in the importance of space in Africa,” admits McKinnell.

This progress has seen the agency achieve a decade of excellence and that must now continue, and this is why a new strategy has been launched.  

“The past year has been an incredibly exciting one, aside from the current pandemic. We have just launched a new five year strategy and that seeks to further integrate our knowledge with government decision making powers but it also shows that we will become more focussed on Africa, representing Africa’s interests in the space community and non-space applications that you can gain from space.

“Growing our own space-relate knowledge and expertise is crucially important for the African continent. We need to ensure we are not only users of technology but also manufacturers, developers and implementers of technology,” says McKinnell.

Going forward it is clear that SANSA has an important role to play, both in the roll out of new strategic projects but also as a science and technology catalyst in the country. With a mission to ‘lead and inspire the South African space community to create a better future’, SANSA’s contributions are admirable and important for enhancing the country and continent.

“We have done a lot of work to make sure we are building national partnerships. We partner with South African Weather Services, we partner with Air Traffic Navigation Services, we partner with the CSIR – particularly on high performance computing – and we have partnerships with the universities across the country as well. We need to get young people involved in what we do so that we can build capability and capacity to get people excited about science, technology and innovation. The future of the space agency executive is out there and we need to make sure we get them interested now,” states McKinnell.

For now, the agency is moving forward with the attitude set out by CEO, Dr Munsami regarding tough times. “If you are in a sailboat race and the wind dies down, it does not mean that the race is over,” he said at the Space for National Development Conference in November. “What you do at the point when the wind is dead determines whether you win or lose the race. The one that sits back and says that there is nothing we can do, fails in the end. But the ones that clean up the boat and stand ready for when the wind picks up, those are the ones that actually win the race at the end of the day. That’s the approach we want to take as SANSA.”

SANSA continues to map and monitor human settlement developments using high-resolution imagery to provide data that can be used for spatial planning, environmental and disaster management. The hope is that this data can be used to support campaigns aimed at managing the spread of coronavirus to ensure that all communities are reached during mitigation and management of the virus – a clear example of science and technology being integrated in decision making to achieve outcomes for humanity.