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- In November 2020, the South African National Space Agency secured R4.47 billion for space infrastructure projects.
- Securing the funding for the "national priority" project was touted as a "groundbreaking achievement".
- But almost three years on, some of the infrastructure projects were shelved as more research was conducted.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
A laundry list of proposed South African space infrastructure projects have faced delays over the last few years.
This is because more research was needed before the R4.47 billion secured by the South African National Space Agency for the projects in 2020 could be used.
In June of 2020, the space infrastructure hub (SIH) project proposal was unveiled as part of the first Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDS).
The symposium was intended to provide a framework for government infrastructure expenditure.
While it had been in the works for a while, the first symposium came at a time when the economy was at a standstill, owing to strict lockdown measures. At the time, infrastructure spending was prioritised as a way to kickstart the economy.
A total of 276 infrastructure projects which were under consideration were revealed at the 2020 SIDS of which the SIH was one of five projects that were placed in a prioritised "catalytic" category.
The proposed investment would be spread out across three years from 2021 to 2023, and was forecast to support an average of 3 695 jobs across the investment period.
In November of that year, Sansa announced that it had secured a R4.47-billion investment for the SIH.
It said the funding would be used to "develop satellites for Earth observation and various space missions, build a new ground station, develop an expanded data segment and build a new data visualisation centre, activate the satellite-based augmentation system over southern Africa, and develop human capital".
Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande said at the time that securing the funding was a "groundbreaking achievement".
He said:
Nearly three years on, News24 checked what progress was made.
No blast-off
Sansa's communications head, Vaneshree Maharaj, said many of the infrastructure projects proposed under the SIH have not been executed.
She said that more research and economic impact studies were required to build a business case for the projects.
Many economic studies have been undertaken for the projects in the three years that have elapsed.
The economic studies have been submitted to the National Treasury, and Maharaj said Sansa was waiting to hear back from them.
Maharaj added:
She said that the country is currently under pressure to address its immediate needs with urgency.
In response to a question from News24 on how much money was allocated to the SIH project so far, National Treasury said R1.2 billion was allocated over the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
Breaking this down, Treasury said R775 million was allocated for the 2023/24 financial year and R434 million for the 2024/25 financial year.
Treasury did not indicate whether any funding for the project was made available before, or whether the intention was to release more funds.
Treasury said that the change in economic conditions and fiscal spending conditions would not impact the project as it was classified as a national priority project.
Infrastructure projects under way
Sansa has had some infrastructure projects under way over the last three years, Maharaj explained.
She said a space weather centre in Hermanus had been built and was fully functional. In addition, a Lunar Exploration Ground Site was being built in Matjiesfontein to assist with communications for a manned mission to the moon.
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She said infrastructure projects undertaken in recent years included big data projects, satellite builds and missions, and the upgrading of the assembly integrated testing facility in Houwteq.
Maharaj said the projects supported jobs over the last three years, but not on the scale of the projects proposed under the SIH.
