Page 36 - EngineerIT April May Issue 2026

AEROSPACE
South Africa’s space sector is
already capable. It just needs a
bit of “TLC”
By Justin Render with insights from James Kerr
sk most people about the
space industry and the
Aanswer still leans toward
rockets and launches, with the
assumption that meaningful activity
happens elsewhere. In practice, the
industry is far more grounded. The
commercial space sector has been
developing for decades, and much
of its value is created through the
systems and services built around
satellite infrastructure.
James Kerr, Aerospace and Defence consultant and Founder of Orion Consulting
“The commercialisation of space
changed everything,” says Aerospace
and Defence consultant and Founder
of Orion Consulting, James Kerr.
He points to a clear starting
point for that development.
“Commercialisation starts in 1988
with the first GPS receiver. That is
when space becomes a usable
mechanism, not just a government
programme.
“From that point, activity expanded as
commercial demand began to shape
how the industry developed. Over
the past decade, that momentum
has accelerated as launch costs
have come down and access has
widened.”
36 | EngineerIT April/May 2026
“From 2015, reusable launch systems
changed the market. Commercial
interests took over, which brought
costs down and increased access,”
James adds.
James notes that as access has
increased, the industry's structure has
broadened. Space launches remain
newsworthy, but much of the work
now takes place across the systems
that support and use satellite data.
“A satellite launch is only one part
of an interconnected process,” says
James. “There is an entire value
chain in the systems around it,
including ground infrastructure, data
processing and the applications built
on that data.”