June 23, 2025
The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) aimed to enhance its Space Operations offering that is crucial for advancing technology, enhancing global space collaborations and increasing national economic benefits through participation in local and international space events.
This was the driver for the SANSA team participating at the 18th SpaceOps 2025 conference in Montreal, Canada from 23-30 May 2025. A diverse group of passionate South African space experts spent a week with representatives from global space agencies and industries sharing latest developments, enticing commercial and academic collaboration efforts and evaluating how the changing face of geopolitics is impacting this global environment with focus on space operations activities.
Engagement at the SANSA exhibition stand
This conference also displayed the changing face of space with diversity in age, gender and nationalities and the increasing presence of youth participating in the conference and exhibitions. “Space is indeed shaping an exciting future for all humanity and we as an emerging space nation are extremely proud of the South African youth we have at the conference that participated in the Young Space Professionals programme as well as main conference through projects they are working on at SANSA’, commented Mr Tiaan Strydom (Acting Executive Director: SANSA Space Operations).
The conference saw 674 participants from 32 countries participate in exciting presentations and discussions that led to partnerships being established, business agreements being concluded and roadmaps for the future being explored. The conference and exhibition platforms allowed the SANSA team to share the SANSA vision and opportunities for commercial and partnership collaborations, especially with the establishment of a new ground station in Matjiesfontein. This drew a great deal of interest from other nations wanting to establish or expand their infrastructure in South Africa.
Mr Raoul Hodges (Acting Executive Director: SANSA Space Science) shared the importance of engaging with these international clients and customers as, ‘a happy customer will always seek to work with you and if you offer them more opportunities that benefit them and you, they will continue to do business with you and this conference allows SANSA to be able to engage our customers face-to-face and build a strong relationship.’
These relationships enable SANSA Space Operations to contribute economically to South Africa and reinvest in providing more launch and satellite services as well as hosted ground station infrastructure. An important exercise that aids in sustainability of SANSA and space in South Africa.
The Agency exhibition was an attractive representation of the how the space sector sees SANSA and the many compliments from stakeholders was testament to this. The compliments did not stop with the exhibit but extended to the standard of presentations delivered by the youth component of the SANSA team. This praise is important as highlighted by Ms Gladys Magagula, SANSA Project Manager (Space Operations) who was a Lead on the Space Young Professionals committee for the conference, ‘The youth need exposure to the global space community as they will be developing partnerships and share opportunities with other youth from across the globe in order to ensure the continuation and sustainability of the space sector through future innovations and developments.
Gladys Magagula and the SANSA Youth at Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
SANSA strives to connect and build sustainable partnerships with its clients, partners and stakeholders and develop the future leaders of the South African space sector through such interventions and is grateful to the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation for its unwavering support.
The 2025 SpaceOps Conference proved to be a resounding success for SANSA, delivering significant value in terms of visibility, collaboration, and strategic positioning. The agency’s strong presence—highlighted by Sharon Petrus receiving the prestigious SpaceOps Appreciation Award, Eugene Avenant’s role as a plenary speaker, and the presentation of multiple technical papers—underscored SANSA’s growing influence in the international space community.
These engagements not only showcased SANSA’s technical capabilities and leadership within global space operations but also opened the door to new partnerships and collaborative opportunities. The conference served as a powerful platform for knowledge exchange and reaffirmed SANSA’s role as a key player in shaping the future of space mission support.
Looking ahead, the outcomes of the SpaceOps Conference are expected to contribute meaningfully to SANSA’s strategic goals and expand its footprint within the global space ecosystem.
