That’s the message this week from South African space technology company Dragonfly Aerospace which is celebrating the launch of the first South African-made microsatellite in 14 years.
Dragonfly business adviser Dave du Toit said the key to Dragonfly’s success was significant international investment into South Africa’s space technology sector: “The space industry in SA has been through a lot of challenges over the past two decades where the SA government has not invested much in projects for microsatellites,” Du Toit said.
He said last week’s SpaceX launch was a milestone for both Dragonfly and the local industry: “Dragonfly proved themselves as one of the leaders in the commercial world in Electro Optics imaging payloads. It was an important next step to build on our past heritage and deliver a world class microsatellite to the market.
Bryan Dean, CEO and co-founder of Dragonfly Aerospace, said the new microsatellite, dubbed EOS SAT-1, represented a big step forward for the local industry.