South Africa has a new space services company, AAC Space Africa. Yes, SA actually has a space industry (and our local space agency’s acronym is SANSA, of all things. Very Game of Thrones) and its number has officially increase by one, thanks to a new initiative by Swedish company AAC Clyde Space.
The company announced yesterday that it is establishing a new South African subsidiary to “…capitalize on the rapidly growing market for satellites and space services in Africa.”
Earth to AAC Space Africa
The local company will be based in Cape Town and will “…design, build, and deliver space missions to the continent”. Which is kinda cool. It gives us our own little space production facility to be proud of. Well, another one. See, AAC Space Africa will be headed by Dr. Robert van Zyl as MD and Francois Visser as technical director, both of whom have decades of experience with SA’s CubeSat industry. A CubeSat is a very small satellite, in case it wasn’t obvious.
“We see great potential for small satellites to provide timely, accurate and targeted data for sectors such as weather forecasting, ocean monitoring, agricultural planning, and land management, ” AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes said. “The ability to provide data from space and monitor key issues across the continent will help Africa develop at a far more rapid pace over the next decade. Adding local presence and expert knowledge to our existing commercial offering will put AAC in an excellent position to address these growing needs.”