Issued by: Minister Jay Naidoo
SPEECH BY JAY NAIDOO, MINISTER FOR POSTS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND BROADCASTING AT THE SEND-OFF CEREMONY FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S FIRST SATELLITE - SUNSAT
Stellenbosch University, Thursday, November 12, 1998
Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The world is on the verge of an unprecedented growth in the use of satellites and space related activities for peaceful purposes. According to the International Telecommunications Union, it is estimated that more satellites will be launched in the next 10 years than in the total launched to-date since the first Sputnik in 1965.
South Africa also has a growing demand for satellite services, for telecommunications, broadcasting, weather prediction, agricultural information, exploration, pollution monitoring and so on. I will, within the next few weeks, be issuing guidelines for the use of Global Mobile Personal Communication Satellite (GMPCS) which are about to be introduced to South Africa, and these are all new innovations in satellite communication technology aimed at exploiting the growth in demand in this region.
Through the various users of satellite facilities such as Telkom, Sentech, Transtel, Orbicom and others, South Africa presently spends between R450 and R550 million annually on leasing transponder capacity from international satellite operators.
South Africa already has a large involvement in space affairs, going back to the early 1960s with the establishment of tracking and telemetry ground stations at Hartebeeshoek to support the growing US and European space programmes.
During 1991, the University of Stellenbosch embarked on the development of a micro-satellite (SUNSAT) as a training project, and today we are here to celebrate the send-off of SUNSAT.
It will be taken to the USA on 19 November and attached to the Delta2 rocket at the USA Western Test Range in California in the middle of December (11 or 14th), and launched on 8 January (weather permitting).
This will be South Africa's first satellite into space. It will operate as hoped in orbit, and provide high quality satellite images of South Africa.
SUNSAT has triggered valuable spin-offs, such as the MTN-Sunstep program, under which over 14 000 children, many of them disadvantaged, have been able to build their first electronic experiments, and open the door to the Pandora's box of Technology.
SUNSAT has also resulted in exported technology and space products, such as a high resolution imager to Korea and a magnetometer to Germany.
The prime goals of the Sunsat program have already been achieved:
More than 37 graduate engineers have worked on Sunsat as part of their Master's degrees and four have completed PhDs. About a third of these would not have entered a post-graduate program without Sunsat. Most of their studies were made possible with bursaries recruited by Sunsat project managers.
The international small satellite community has become aware of the technical potential that South Africa has in this field.
Children have been stimulated to take an interest in technology.
It is evident that our country already possesses considerable expertise in satellite technology. It is essential that this technology base be expanded to involve students from disadvantaged communities, to develop career opportunities within the country in a sector where skills are being eroded by a large demand in foreign countries.
I believe that the building of such skills can best be achieved through a programme of development and training, putting into practice by the physical design, building and operation of a micro-satellite like SUNSAT, using existing expertise.
I therefore applaud the University for its effort in getting SUNSAT built and launched, and in doing it in a way that has benefited so many young people, and our country as a whole.
Thank you.