4 Amazing things about the South African National Space Agency
Supporting Artemis II's moon mission from the Hartebeesthoek ground station in Gauteng is not the only cool thing the South African National Space Agency has been up to.
When South Africans think of space, NASA is probably the first thing that comes to mind - not SANSA.
Very few people are aware of the incredible work that the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) is doing behind the scenes.
Billionaire Mark Shuttleworth is the only South African to have travelled to space, but hopefully that will change in the future, given all the work SANSA is doing.
Here's a look at the amazing things SANSA is doing in space.
1. Spacecraft tracking
All eyes are on NASA's Orion spacecraft as its Artemis II mission makes history, but many South Africans will be surprised to know that SANSA is supporting the team. Engineers at its Hartebeesthoek ground station in Gauteng have been tracking Orion since the mission started on April 1, 2026.
According to the Daily Maverick, "Sansa had been contracted, along with other ground stations on Earth, to track the mission". They are able to track the capsule “when it is visible to us, because the Earth rotates”.
Astronaut Christina Koch gave our side of the world a shout-out at one point shortly after starting their journey back home.
“To Asia, Africa and Oceania, we are looking back at you. We hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you, too.”
2. Extreme weather tracking
SANSA doesn't just track spacecraft. It also plays an important role in tracking extreme weather conditions. The agency has a 24/7 Operation Space Weather Centre in Hermanus in the Western Cape.
"We track and monitor space weather events because any adverse changes in the near-Earth space environment, as a result of activity on the Sun, can put the performance and reliability of spacecraft and ground-based systems at risk. This, in turn, could create vulnerabilities within technological systems such as communication, navigation applications, power systems and satellite operations," SANSA states on its website.
Its satellites can map flooded areas and help predict thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and other severe weather conditions.
3. Space tech
SANSA might be years away from sending astronauts to space, but it is doing important work in space engineering.
Its engineering programmes are designing, building and testing tech that will help grow the country's space industry.
"Space Engineering will develop facilities for assembly, integration and testing for use by the South African space, automotive, and defence industries, with a view to eventually provide the full space mission life-cycle capabilities for the development and operations of optical, SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and scientific payloads.
"These capabilities will include the design, modelling, development, measurement, calibration, testing, and evaluation of technology options."
4. Satellite launches
South Africa has launched several microsatellites, including SumbandilaSat. The micro earth observation satellite was launched in 2009. Sumbandila means 'lead the way'/ 'pathfinder' in Venda.
"The benefits of SumbandilaSat include disaster management (monitoring of floods and fires), food security (estimation of crop yields), health (through the prediction of epidemics and outbreaks), infrastructure, safety and security, water resource management and energy," per an infographic provided by the Science and Technology Department.
Sansa bird farewell to SumbandilaSat in 2021.
"[It] reached the end of its life and de-orbited on 10 December 2021, burning up in the atmosphere. The satellite was launched in 2009 and took a total of 1 128 high-resolution, usable images."
#SpaceSA SumbandilaSat was successfully launched & operated in space with over 1200 high quality data images pic.twitter.com/kpUKCw1JBQ
— DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE,TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION (@dstigovza) June 1, 2016
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Image credit: Facebook/South African National Space Agency