The Department of Science and Technology is fine-tuning its Ten Year Plan for Science and Technology, styled as innovation toward a knowledge-based economy. The Plan centres of five 'Grand Challenges', one of which is Space Science and Technology. Arguably, becoming a significant player in space platforms for remote sensing rests upon country prowess in telelemetry, control and telecommunications that developed in the defence and aerospace sectors, both public and private.
The proposal centres on the Cape Telemetry Cluster that has its origins in the development and deployment in the Second World War of radar systems to defend the strategic Cape sea route. The cluster involves universities, companies and state research institutions and forms part of the much larger defence and aerospace industries sector that is centred on the Witwatersrand. It includes weapons and weapon systems, munitions and proplellants, airframe design and construction, command and control systems, radar, secure communications, military vechiles and associated materiel. The expected establishment of the South African Space Agency later this year should be a boost to the telemetry industry.
