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Ibadan, 28 June 2024. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and its Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) have announced that the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has officially become a Regional Support Office (RSO) for UN-SPIDER. As a new RSO, SANSA will collaborate closely with UN-SPIDER on outreach, capacity building, horizontal cooperation, and technical advisory support.
The partnership aims to enhance disaster management and emergency response efforts in the region, leveraging SANSA’s expertise and resources. SANSA has been at the forefront of space research and activities in South Africa, contributing to international space efforts and monitoring the Earth’s magnetic field. Furthermore, SANSA’s creation aimed to promote space usage, strengthen cooperation in space-related activities, foster research in space science, and advance scientific engineering through human capital development and industrial support in space technologies.
SANSA joining the global network of RSOs will consequently bolster UN-SPIDERS’s efforts to advance disaster management and emergency response, enhancing the capacity to use space-based information to support the full disaster management cycle in Southern Africa and beyond. In May 2023, an Institutional Strengthening Mission (ISM) to South Africa highlighted the potential of synergies between SANSA, the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), and other stakeholders. It was during this mission that UN-SPIDER and SANSA discussed the incorporation of SANSA as a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office.
SANSA is active with various programs, including Earth Observation, Space Operations, Space Science, and the newly established Space Engineering. These programs focus on space science, engineering, and technology to promote development, build human capital, and provide essential national services, such as navigation, communication technology, and weather forecasting.
