The South African government has approved the state acquisition of a 55-60% stake in the country’s small satellite manufacturer SunSpace.
The government’s cabinet meeting on February 10 determined that the investment should be made in order to ensure…
The South African government has approved the state acquisition of a 55-60% stake in the country’s small satellite manufacturer SunSpace.
The government’s cabinet meeting on February 10 determined that the investment should be made in order to ensure that it retains control of South Africa’s national space activities.
The company was founded by Stellenbosch University, and has built two spacecraft for South Africa. The first, SunSat, was launched by NASA in 1999, and the second, SumbandilaSat, is an earth observation satellite that was launched in 2009.
The funding model for the acquisition of SunSpace’s equity has not yet been determined.
SunSpace CEO Bart Cilliers told SatelliteFinance that a price is still to be set and that the deal is likely to be concluded by the middle of the year. He said: “Since satellites are bought by governments and need to be treated as politically sensitive issues, it is important to be seen to be supported by local governments. For their part, they would like to see long-term stability for the company.”
The company currently has a number of shareholders. Both Stellenbosch University and the individuals who originally founded the business own small stakes. A Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner, a company named Dusty Moon, has a 25% holding.
Last year, South Africa’s National Empowerment Fund, which is mandated to support BEE enterprises, invested R50m into SunSpace. This gave the NEF the option to take control of a 30% stake in the company at a future date.
Cilliers believes that it is possible the NEF investment will be absorbed into the larger equity stake the government plans to acquire.
The government’s past record in managing SunSpace missions has been mixed. The launch of SumbandilaSat was delayed for three years due to a dispute between the South African Department of Science and Technology and its launch partner, the Russian space agency Roskosmos.
The hope is that direct government ownership of a majority stake in SunSpace will allow future missions to proceed in a more streamlined and efficient manner.
Cilliers is hopeful that the investment will improve prospects going forward. “For us it makes a lot of sense in terms of Team South Africa, making use of the strengths that the government can bring to the table,” he said. “We need government support for a number of deals that have been happening for quite a while, so we are excited about the possibilities here.”
The SunSpace CEO said that the company would continue to focus on the production of earth observation satellites weighing less than 500 kilograms.
