Billionaire hotspots at the heart of South Africa’s space tech industry
The picturesque Cape Winelands, home to many South African billionaires, is also the country’s satellite manufacturing powerhouse.
Almost all the local companies that manufacture technology for the international space industry have facilities in the region, which was the historical birthplace of South Africa’s early space race.
In the late 1980s, the South African government, under the National Party, established the “Houwteq” facility to secretly develop its own ballistic missiles and satellite capabilities.
Under increased pressure from international sanctions, the government created Houwteq as a manufacturing facility and testing wing for these projects.
The location of the Houwteq facility, which has now become Spaceteq, was not chosen by coincidence. The secluded location, at the time, provided ample secrecy for the facility.
It was tucked into the Houwhoek mountains, with Grabouw being the nearest town to the facility. The mountainous terrain of the area ensured that activities could continue undetected.
Another reason was its close proximity to Stellenbosch University, whose contributions to South African space technology remain significant to this day.
While missile manufacturing had ceased following 1994, the facility continues to produce satellite components and spacecraft parts.
Spaceteq and its teams and engineers were involved with several notable satellite projects, some of the first in Africa. This included SUNSAT, the first South African-built satellite.
Other notable projects include SumbandilaSat, created in 2009, which aimed to provide orbital observation to aid disaster management after floods and fires across the country.
The South African Council for Space Affairs (SACSA) explained that the satellite’s name means “lead the way” in Venda.
It was built by teams from Stellenbosch University through SunSpace, which would later be absorbed into Spaceteq.
“SumbandilaSat is part of a closely integrated South African space programme and serves as a research tool to investigate the viability of affordable space technology,” said SACSA at the time.
SANSA Space Operations in Pretoria was responsible for operations, telemetry, tracking, control, and data capture during the satellite’s operational phase. SumbandilaSat has since reached end-of-life.
Other notable satellite systems that emerged from Spaceteq include the Export Sat 1, launched in 2007, and the company has shifted to the EO-SAT project 1 under its new ownership.
Private companies leading South Africa’s contribution
Around Spaceteq and its legacy, modern companies manufacturing components for spacecraft have emerged in the nearby vineyards and fynbos, in the shade of Stellenbosch.
One of these is NewSpace Systems, which recently opened what it said was the largest commercial spacecraft component and subsystem manufacturing facility in Africa.
The company told MyBroadband that its components have been used on over 2,500 spacecraft missions run by companies and agencies worldwide.
Its Somerset West facility specialises in components for satellite positioning control, including reaction wheels, sun sensors, magnetometers, GPS receivers, and antennas.
“With this new facility, NSS is also establishing one of the most advanced commercial spacecraft component manufacturing hubs in the Southern Hemisphere,” the company said.
It designs and manufactures equipment for major international broadband-from-space providers, and the facility was designed from the ground up to meet the growing demand.
Crafting components for satellite constellations is its current focus, with companies like Amazon Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink actively expanding capacity.
Two other major satellite component manufacturers call the region home, including Dragonfly Aerospace and CubeSpace Satellite Systems.
Dragonfly’s manufacturing facility in Stellenbosch features large clean rooms, as well as testing and development facilities. It says that it maintains in-house control of all satellite subsystems.
The company is now aiming to produce up to 48 satellites that weigh around 200kg annually, “enabling us to compete with the most advanced agile aerospace companies in the world.”
Its most recent innovation is the ηDragonfly Bus, a 50kg high-performance imaging satellite that it says has the potential to revolutionise space delivery by deploying multiple satellites in a single launch.
“ηDragonfly is engineered to deliver five years or more of in-orbit operation and is designed for sensitive imaging payloads,” the company said.
Industrialisation of satellite manufacturing in South Africa
Another major player in the region is CubeSpace, which manufactures satellite control solutions for international partners.
Like NewSpace Systems, the company is actively expanding its assembly lines to boost capacity, with “efforts focused on technology modularity and industrialisation.”
CubeSpace says that quick turnaround times for satellite components are essential because it works in an “industry where even minor delays can derail entire missions.”
“Building constellations is a defining challenge for many of our customers,” said Mike-Alec Kearney, CEO of CubeSpace.
The company has over 250 customers in more than 30 countries worldwide, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
“The space industry is following a familiar path, much like the computer industry did, toward standardisation, commoditisation, and true industrial-scale manufacturing,” said Kearney.
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