The Department of Science and Technology has appointed Sandile Malinga as the first CEO of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).
"The appointment of Dr Malinga as CEO gives the agency the necessary impetus to begin its work in earnest. As the caretaker CEO, he demonstrated his efficiency and capability to run the agency, and we are now looking forward to seeing the agency flourishing," says science and technology minister Naledi Pandor.
The department says Malinga is a space physicist. In 2007, he was appointed the manager and later the managing director of the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, which is a national geo-space science research facility that operates a wide observational network in SA and Antarctica.
Malinga was appointed caretaker CEO of SANSA in January 2010.
Pandor launched SANSA in December, along with the national space strategy.
“The space industry is now big business. It is not simply a matter of space travel. It's also about an industry that has enormous potential future growth.”
The agency is responsible for the implementation of the National Space Strategy, including the coordination and integration of all national space science and technology programmes.
Pandor also highlighted the agency's three main functions, which are to implement a national space programme; to advise the minister of science and technology on strategy; and to acquire, assimilate and distribute space-derived data to various state entities.
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