CNES and SANSA sign founding agreement outlining future projects

Jean-Pascal Le Franc, CNES Director of Planning, International Relations and Quality, and Valanathan Munsami, CEO of the South African National Space Agency SANSA, signed an agreement outlining future space cooperation between France and South Africa in Pretoria.
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This founding agreement lays the basis for future joint space projects between the two countries. Targeted areas of cooperation include space operations, space science, Earth observation, telecommunications, applications, and research and technology. The two agencies will also coordinate on international regulatory matters. Initial discussions centred around the Space Climate Observatory (SCO), the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, and the training of engineers.

South Africa is fostering the development of its space sector and has already launched three micro- and nanosatellites. Pretoria has financed several Earth observation projects, including the development of a 350 kg satellite and a future constellation of ocean-monitoring nanosatellites. The production of a second constellation dedicated to forest fire detection is now underway.

In 2013, the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI) and its Cape Town branch at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), were commissioned to produce South Africa’s first ever CubeSat. SANSA went on to task F’SATI with the development of its future constellation of nanosatellites dedicated to monitoring South Africa’s oceans, as part of a state initiative to unlock the country’s ocean economy (Operation Phakisa).

Following the signature, Jean-Pascal Le Franc said: “CNES is proud and honoured that SANSA is partnering with it in this wide-ranging cooperation, which builds on the already numerous and longstanding links between our two agencies, not least for space operations. SANSA plays a vital role in the development of space activities, not only within South Africa but across the African continent. Pursuing its policy of active cooperation with the new space powers, CNES is delighted to consolidate its presence in Africa—a region of the world where the priorities of French space policy, especially tackling climate change, take on an extra dimension.”

 

 

Vincent Chappard

Vincent Chappard

Vincent is an aerospace editor and consultant based in Paris.