Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has questioned whether a planned satellite launch on Thursday in Kazakhstan is part of a secret South African spy project.
Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has announced that a Kondor-E “earth observation satellite” will be launched, using a Strela rocket, at 07h55 Moscow time (06h55 South African time) on Thursday, December 18 2014 from Site 175 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This is according to the DA’s shadow minister for defence David Maynier in a statement on Wednesday.
Maynier told Fin24 that Russian company NPO Mashinostroyenia is developing a Kondor-E radar imaging satellite for the South African government as part of a secret R1.4bn spy contract signed in 2006 dubbed ‘Project Flute’. Maynier further told Fin24 that the satellite could be South Africa's controversial missing satellite that was previously reported to cost R1.2bn.
Responding to Fin24’s questions about the satellite, a South African government defence spokesperson gave no comment on the matter.
Maynier, in his statement, has said that the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has refused to reply to any questions about “Project Flute” in parliament.
However, Maynier said that the Secretary for Defence, Dr Sam Gulube, “conceded at a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, on 22 October 2014, that a contract for a ‘military satellite’ existed and that the contract was ‘on track’”.
"We do know that there is a project to develop a military satellite. We do know that the satellite is Kondor-E satellite developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia, a Russian company,” Maynier told Fin24.
"And we do know that the satellite is scheduled to be launched tomorrow.
"Now, we can't be sure - as I say in my statement - that this is the South African satellite, but I am fairly confident that it is a satellite,” Maynier added.
If Thursday’s launch is the South African spy satellite, it is unclear what its mission purpose could be, Maynier told Fin24.
But Maynier - who said he’s been tracking developments regarding Project Flute for over four and a half years - said that speculation exists that the satellite could be used to gather images for African peace missions or to protect South Africa’s borders.
"We're still joining the dots and we don't know what the purpose of the spy satellite is and what the purpose of Project Flute is,” Maynier told Fin24.
‘R1.4bn price tag’
The secret spy satellite is alleged to cost taxpayers R1.4bn.
"There's no reason Project Flute and the spy satellite be kept a secret. I think that the public have a right to know. After all, we've probably spent up to R1.4bn on this project,” Maynier said.
South Africa has not launched similar satellites to Project Flute in the last twenty years and the project is “unique”, Maynier added.