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6 March 2009

Chairperson
Rep of Ambassador for Nigeria, Mr Nuhu
Rep of Ambassador for Algeria, Mr Imed Selantnia
Industry leaders
Representatives of Academic Institutions
Members of the South African Council for Space Affairs
Members of the Media
The Department of Trade and Industry and other government Departments
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentleman

I was most fortunate to come across an African proverb recently that says "You don't have to be tall to see the moon." What does this mean? It could mean quite literally that a child can see the moon as clearly as the tallest person. But I think the true teaching of this proverb is that irrespective of who we are, if each of us put our mind to it, all of us have equal potential and ability to be a part of the greatness of our world and the universe beyond.

And it is in this context, especially for your role in allowing our citizens to be part of the greatness of our world and the universe beyond that I want to thank all of you for gracing with your presence, this landmark event in the history of our space endeavours. Today we launch the South African National Space Policy. This policy emanates from the primary space legislative instrument; the Space Affairs Act, which mandates the Minister of Trade and Industry to develop the policy to be followed by our country and guide participation in this arena. In having the privilege to preside over a process which has successfully delivered on the mandate of the Act, I must say that it would have been most difficult to do so, if we had not received the most extra-ordinary co-operation from other government departments and key sector stakeholders, I thank you all.

Ladies and gentleman even though it has been a legislative imperative for South Africa to develop its own policy it has equally been a practical requirement. Our country has been involved in space activities for the past five decades and as a result we have a number of institutions and programmes that play a significant role in the scientific study, exploration and utilisation of space. Up until now, this scenario however, has evolved in a un-co-ordinated manner thus posing challenges for the strategic and cohesive focus required for this field.

It was therefore of great importance that we addressed these shortcomings because space technology has turned out to be one field of high technology that exerts the most profound influence on modern society. And its continuous development and application has become an important endeavour in the modernisation drive of countries all over the world. The use of the outer space environment has grown substantially to the point where we as government, industry, the military and, indeed, the public at large now depend on satellites and their associated ground systems to provide numerous socio economic benefits.

In fact, I think it is quite ironic that space technology provides so many benefits to society yet we hardly even notice that those benefits are derived from satellite systems. (At the risk of making you feel like school children and the even greater risk of being accused of condescension, may I ask how many of you have used space lately. Whether the space application is on-line banking, cell phone use, watching an international sporting event or using a global positioning system (GPS) for directions to a particular location, the global society is making increasing use of such services in their daily lives.

Space technology also finds applications on earth in a wide variety of products and processes that have purely terrestrial uses. These so-called spin-off benefits from space are numerous, but, to mention just a few, they include applications in health and medicine, security, industrial productivity, transport, public safety, household and recreational items.

In the future, the use of satellite services in tele-health and tele-education is also expected to grow, bringing numerous benefits to rural communities and reducing the inequalities between rich and poor. Some of the developing nations such as the East Asian countries (India, Indonesia, and Malaysia) have started to benefit immensely from such space applications.

Additionally, space technology allows developing countries to "leapfrog" certain stages of development. For example, communications satellites allow communications between any two points in a country without the need to install ground-based infra-structure. This property of space systems also provides important societal benefits in areas such as disaster management, where ground-based communications infrastructure is often unusable.

For us, a further advantage is that it is high-tech sectors such as this sector with its advanced manufacturing capabilities that will enable us to achieve a wide ranging innovative economic basket of goods and services. Hence as a country our primary goal is to acquire the appropriate space-based systems for wider socio - economic benefits as well as our independent access to space.

However, activities in the space arena need to be done in accordance with the legislative framework that guides all actors on how they should engage in space. It is in this regard that we are proud that we now have a policy that provides guidance to all South African public and private sector stakeholders undertaking space activities and encourages better co-ordination and co-operative governance amongst the stakeholders.

Ladies and gentleman, the policy is grounded on an important principle of utilisation of outer space for peaceful purposes. The exploration and use of outer space is the province of all humankind, and the peaceful uses of outer space are the shared aspiration of humanity. And of particular significance for us are the advances in science and technology that have made it possible to explore and harness resources in outer space for the benefit of mankind. For instance, outer space is playing a growing role in, among other things, promoting scientific research, developing telecommunications and protecting the environment, and all aspects of people's everyday life as I mentioned before are closely linked with it.

So, as more and more countries become reliant on space, there will be greater pressure on the space environment and it will be incumbent on all users of space to preserve the earth's orbital space environment for peaceful uses by all nations. In crafting our space policy and our regulatory environment we are guided by this principle. For this reason our next legislative step will be to ensure ratification of the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects and the Convention on the Registration of Objects Launched to Outer Space. By ratifying these important international instruments, South Africa is demonstrating its commitment to be a responsible user of the space environment.

But, as I indicated earlier, it is also the quite direct role this sector can play in our economic development that is of significance to our national life. In this regard, the National Industrial Policy Framework vision encourages the long term intensification of the country's industrialisation and movement towards a knowledge economy. Given our socio-economic disparities, our fundamental task is to develop and continuously modernise our economy.

In practice this means that while space activities were essentially public goods at the beginning of the space age, the role of industry is expanding. It is therefore in the best interest of government to ensure that industry is encouraged to develop innovative applications that contribute fully to an advanced economy and to alleviate societal challenges. Therefore the promotion of a domestic space industry is one of the cornerstones of this policy. This will be achieved by maximising the participation of domestic industry in the national space agenda and creating a supporting regulatory environment. Domestic industry is also encouraged to pursue appropriate strategic international industrial partnerships, as one of the means of enhancing industrial competitiveness.

Evidence suggests that countries that largely leave it to industry in this sector to produce goods and services tend to perform better, on balance, than those that do not. Therefore, leaving the production to industry allows government to concentrate on what it does best which is providing public goods and services to the population at large and elaborating and enforcing effective rules of the game for the industry.

I am therefore pleased to announce that the dti is developing a space industry framework, which is a scoping exercise to identify South African capabilities and potential in this industry whilst also considering the already established industries such as aerospace, defence, electronics, avionics and information communication technology (ICT), amongst others. The magnificence of space is that it overlaps with a whole host of other fields as I have mentioned. The framework will also help ensure that entrepreneurship and innovation are encouraged, that barriers to entry and the burden of regulations are minimised and that leasing from international companies is discouraged.

Certainly too, space activities involve huge investments and high risks. And even though the South African space industry is still very small its potential economic and strategic importance is as boundless as space itself. It is therefore government's intention that ownership of the policy should rest equally across public and private actors.

The policy also encourages co-operation with other nations in respect of the mutually beneficial and peaceful uses of outer space, with a focus on extending the benefits of space technology to the African continent, through pursuit of co-operative activities with other African countries. In June 2008, a Declaration of Intent was signed between South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria on African Resource Management and Environmental Constellation (ARMC). The ARMC is a constellation of low-earth orbiting satellites where the data generated is to be shared by the participating Parties for their mutual benefit. South Africa is extremely excited by this development as it marks the beginning of regional space co-operation in Africa and will truly be a sterling example of an African initiative to resolve Africa's challenges.

But Space, ladies and gentlemen, is an unbounded arena and hence our country finds it imperative to establish co-operative and mutually beneficial international relationships. Thus we will seek to strengthen existing partnerships and new opportunities for co-operation with the world's renowned space faring nations. We will also place priority on building relationships on the African continent and on south-south relationships.

Finally, I think we are all aware and concerned that without correct implementation our good intentions may come to naught or be undermined. We will certainly therefore work very hard to ensure that this policy is implemented through the relevant government departments and agencies according to their respective mandates as guided by this policy. In practice we will therefore all have to embrace both the spirit and letter of co-ordination and co-operative governance. This approach will also allow us to optimise the use of resources, whilst the dti with the assistance of the South African Council for Space Affairs will monitor and evaluate that implementation.

I am confident that such co-ordination and co-operation can be achieved. This confidence is derived from the fact that the process of producing and finalising this policy involved various governments departments, and demonstrated so well in practice, the spirit of co-operation and co-ordination that this policy sets out to achieve. And I need at this point to particularly thank the Council on Space Affairs for their truly sterling work in bringing us this far. Additionally, some of you here today provided feedback on the policy document and I want to thank you sincerely for your input(s) that helped bring about this document.

In conclusion, I have noted that many of the distinguished government departments and industry experts who must play a role in meeting these challenges are in this room today. Although we often serve different societal interests, we are meeting here today with one common goal: to share information about how space based activities may solve many of our country's and continents' challenges. It is an endeavour that has fascinated mankind for so many centuries. In fact it is an extra-ordinary endeavour as Socrates points out when he says that "Man must rise above the earth-to the top of the atmosphere and beyond – for only then will he fully understand the world in which he lives." I have no doubt that all of us gathered here at the base of Africa have our role to play to allow mankind to fully understand the world in which we live.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
6 March 2009