Central SA
Matjiesfontein to host first deep space ground station in Africa─── BAMBATHA GIKO 13:50 Wed, 09 Nov 2022
The Matjiesfontein Karoo, in the Western Cape, has been chosen to host the first deep space ground station in Africa due to its dry climate, which is said to be advantageous to deep space communication.
The Department of Science and Innovation signed a joint statement, confirming their collaboration and partnership for deep-space missions with the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the sod-turning ceremony for the first-in-Africa Deep Space Ground Station based in Matjiesfontein, Western Cape.
The Matjiesfontein deep space ground station will be one of three Lunar Exploration Ground Sites [LEGS] placed strategically around the globe. Ground stations function no differently than a cellphone tower. When one connects to their phone, it connects to a cell phone tower which then sends and receives signals to and from cell phones. Similarly, the communication antennas at the site are intended to ensure near-continuous connectivity between astronauts on NASA's Artemis spacecraft and those who will subsequently come to work on and around the lunar surface.
The Deep Ground Space Station in Matjiesfontein will be a world-class facility with construction kicking off in early 2023 and this is how it will function? #MTJGroundSpaceStation pic.twitter.com/1cn6Z65c89
— DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & INNOVATION (@dsigovza) November 9, 2022
“For future expansion we will need to communicate all the way to Mars and beyond - and that’s basically what we plan to do at Matjiesfontein. It’s to build a facility that can communicate from the earth all the way up to the surface of Mars, the moon and beyond,” says Acting Commercial Services Executive of SANSA, Tiaan Strydom.
Strydom adds, the mission is focused towards supporting NASA’s Artemis missions, which is a programme that will put the first person of color and first female on the surface of the moon.
Matjiesfontein in South Africa will soon host a station that will help track NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and person of color on the moon by 2025 https://t.co/9OaUQmrtmj pic.twitter.com/qGpxGrMLZm
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 9, 2022
Strydom notes that since we’re on the leaping edge of technology, South Africa needs to be part of this development since so many technologies have been developed due to the moon landing. “If South Africa is serious about developing our economy, it's quite critical that we get involved in high-tech projects. Specifically, to focus towards finding technology that we can be a part of in this new endeavour,” he says.
