Government has developed a national satellite strategy that will be presented to cabinet ministers soon. One of the recommendations is that government should acquire and fully own its own geostationary satellite.
The department of communications & digital technologies and the department of science, technology & innovation have worked on the proposal together.
According to a joint presentation by representatives of both departments in a meeting of their respective parliamentary portfolio committees on Tuesday, it would take between five and seven years for South Africa to develop and put its own satellite into orbit.
“There is a digital divide in South Africa that satellite can assist with, and that is because in some areas it is very costly to provide [terrestrial] connectivity,” said Tinyiko Ngobeni, deputy director-general at the department of communications.
“The satellite strategy will assist us in achieving our education and health objectives, particular in remote and rural areas. We are also hoping it will contribute to the reduction of the cost to communicate due to the high cost of deploying high-speed connectivity in some areas.”
Ngobeni said three options for the acquisition of satellite capacity are set out in the strategy document. The first is a fully leased model, where government would pay fees to a private satellite service provider. This option would provide the fastest time to market as there would be no infrastructure investment required from government.
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The second option is a joint venture between government and another entity. Ngobeni said this would give the state slightly more control than the first proposal, but still would not allow for full autonomy. The timeline to deployment under this model would be about three years.
The third model, preferred by both the communications and science departments, would involve outright ownership of the satellite. Despite having the longest time to market, it would address concerns around data sovereignty and security that have been raised by parliament in previous discussions.
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Ngobeni claimed industry players, including telecommunications operators – which could serve as customers for the satellite – have already committed to purchasing capacity from government, should it launch a satellite.
A lack of satellite skills in the public sector is one of the key risks identified as a potential hurdle to the project’s success. As a workaround, government is looking to partner with private sector players with the required skills to help manage the project.
Another key risk to the project’s success is corruption, which Ngobeni said has come to characterise government projects of this scope. Funding for the satellite project would be sought in part from the national fiscus, but given the large sums of money required, public-private partnerships should be pursued as well, said Ngobeni.
“Based on estimations for projects of this nature, it will be very difficult to get the entire amount from the fiscus. Most satellite launches follow a partnership model because it requires input from all stakeholders including policymakers, those who are going to be involved in the technical aspects of the design and launch, and those who commit to using the service after the satellite is launched.”
Debt financing is also being explored as an additional source of funding. Ngobeni said the team, comprising members of the communications and science departments as well as contributors from communications regulator Icasa and state-owned signal distribution company Sentech, are “exploring other options” to bring the time deployment window down from the five to seven years that have been projected.
“We are looking to leverage some of the capacity that we have between Sentech and the South African National Space Agency to see what can be done to [speed up] this ultimate objective of launching our own satellite as a country,” said Ngobeni. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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