Expanding the Space Community at the 14th International Conference on Space Operations

SpaceOps 2016 is being hosted by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) and takes place from 16-20 May 2016 at the Dajeon Convention Centre in Korea. SANSA is represented by executives and operations teams. The purpose of the SpaceOps Conference is to create a global professional and technical network of space operations experts in academia, government and industry. There will be panel discussions and presentations which will play a vital role in the dissemination of information between numerous space agencies.

The Theme for this year’s event is “Expanding the Space Community” and this theme will provide an opportunity for various space agencies to share their experiences, challenges, and innovation solutions with colleagues from around the world. This conference aims at inspiring an increase in the participation from developing countries, especially from Asia and Africa and any other nations that are emerging players in space development.

Betty Ntlhe and Gladys Magagula will be presenting a paper entitled “Developing a Space Programme in a Developing Country: Opportunities and Challenges”. We are extremely proud of our colleagues for taking this opportunity to share SANSA’s Space Programme with the International Space Community.

SANSA will also be joined by established agencies such as NASA’s planetary network management team, CNES (French Space Agency) and the UAE Space Agency. We look forward to receiving beneficial feedback in the hope of improving our current space-related activities.

As SANSA deals with many international Space Agencies and international private launch and satellite operators, it gives us the opportunity to also market and network with these organisations to explore collaborative opportunities for SANSA.

SANSA has been part of the SpaceOps community for the past 10 years and this has contributed immensely towards the growth of the South African National Space Agency.

Vaneshree Maharaj
vmaharaj@sansa.org.za