Who says you need rockets in order to make a difference in space? Well, Elon Musk, obviously. But that’s not the only way you can contribute. The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has announced that it will be taking part in the United Arab Emirates’ upcoming lunar rover mission.

The UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will see its first lunar rover mission, the Rashid Rover, arrive on the Moon’s surface on 25 April this year. And South Africa will be taking part. SA isn’t building the rover — that’s already done. Nor are we contributing to the launch. That happened in December last year. Instead, the country’s space agency is providing communications support.

South Africa… in spaaaace?

The Rashid Rover launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 11 December 2022, en route to the Moon’s surface on a low-energy trajectory. It’s supposed to arrive on 25 April. When it does, SANSA will be watching. And not in a creepy Game of Thrones way. We hope.

When it gets there, Hartebeesthoek Ground Station in Magaliesburg in Gauteng will establish communications between the Rashid Rover and the EML Control Centre in Dubai where the mission will be monitored and controlled. Two antennae at South Africa’s Space Operations facility (you didn’t know we had that, did you?) – a twelve-metre S-Band and a 26-metre parabolic — will be dedicated to the UAE’s mission.

This isn’t SA’s only foray into space. Recently, the country sent a batch of CubeSats into orbit around the planet. The country is an integral part of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project and we’re also playing host to hardware from the BOOTES program with a new robotic optical telescope installation.