By Liu Jian

sOUtH africa is known to many Chinese as a country with ample natural resources such as diamonds and gold， but it also has much to offer in the space arena. The country demonstrated its latest space technology at the National Pavilion for the South African Space Arena at the 64th International Astronautical Congress（IAC） held in Beijing from September 23 to 27.

South Africa is among the leading space and aeronautics nations on the African continent， according to Rosemary Mashaba， South Africas Deputy Ambassador to China. “We have a variety of institutions and programs， which have extensive competencies in the satellite engineering， space exploration， aero structures， avionics and utilization of applications for socio-economic benefits，” she said.

Seven South African space sector participants including affiliated governmental departments， science councils， academia and companies took part in the demonstration. Their participation was an initiative of South Africas Department of Trade and Industry （DTI）.

“We hope this event will provide a good opportunity to exhibit their capabilities and enable engagements with the international space community， which could forge relationships in areas of space engineering， science and other related beneficial spheres，” said Nomfuneko Majaja， Chief Director of DTIs Advanced Manufacturing Aerospace and Defense Electrotechnical.

More cooperation

The countrys major milestone in the development of the national space program is its participation in an international project called Square Kilometer Array （SKA）， in which thousands of linked radio-wave receptors will be positioned in Africa and Australia in hopes of clarifying some as-of-yet unanswered questions about the universe， according to Carla Sharpe， Business Development Manager of SKA South Africa.

“Projects like this are very important in developing our skills and human capacity and developing our ability to cooperate with other global partners. The program is also driving forward the technology and the economy of its partner countries，” Sharpe said.

Currently， South Africa has joined the ranks of emerging aerospace nations and reached a critical stage in the development of space capabilities， said Dr. Peter Martinez， Chairperson of the South African Council for Space Affairs. “We hope to cooperate with China in the fields of earth observation， space operations， satellite manufacturing， space engineering and human capital development，” he said.

Echoing Martinez， Majaja added that cooperation with China in skill and technology development and transfer would help develop South Africas indigenous space capabilities.

Several South African research institutions and companies joined the exhibition and hoped to attract potential partners in joint research and development.“While the space domain is a new frontier for the African continent， the time is right to market South Africas strong engineering capability and our culture of cooperation internationally，” said Berthold Alheit， General Manager of Denel Spaceteq， part of South Africas Denel Dynamics Co. “Our capabilities can be applied to the advancement of solving difficult and large engineering problems in the space arena.”

The benefit of the space industry is far reaching， and it has a much broader national technological benefit.“Satellite technology is a catalyst for so many other technologies. While practicing space engineering， you create other technologies that can be applied anywhere，” said Professor Robert van Zyl， Director of the French South African Institute of Technology at Cape Town-based Cape Peninsula University of Technology.“The space industry drives the need for innovation， which is important for economic growth， and keeps our country abreast of other countries，” Sharpe said.