South African National Space Conference 2025

We were honoured to participate in the South African National Space Conference 2025, held 20–22 August at the CSIR in Pretoria. The event was hosted by the National Earth Observations and Space Secretariat (NEOSS) and the South African National Space Agency (SANSA)—an initiative of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)—in collaboration with the South African Air Force (SAAF) and other national partners. The conference centred on the theme: “Space for Societal Resilience, Transformation and Intelligence.”

On behalf of Mura Space, we presented in the Technical Session on Day 2 moderated by Francois Denner, outlining a vision for Africa’s first commercial spaceport and the orbital launch value chain—with a focus on how commercial leadership and public–private collaboration can drive Africa’s transition from 'space observer to global competitor'. Our presentation was entitled“Commercial Leadership and the Orbital Launch Value Chain in South Africa: From Observer to Competitor”.

Presentation Abstract: Between 2017 and 2025, total private investment in the space sector globally exceeded US$50 billion. Meanwhile, G20 governments allocate approximately US$120 billion annually for both civil and defence-related space budgets. In contrast, African governments' space budgets amount to around US$420 million for the year 2025 – this amounts to only 5% of the average annual private sector investment total and 0.35% of the G20 public sector total. The involvement of private sector leadership, entrepreneurship, and investment is thus important in establishing a viable, sustainable, and competitive end-to-end space value chain within Africa, particularly in South Africa. Nearly every sector of a modern economy is interlinked with the space industry. For nations, sovereignty is associated with the concept of sovereignty within the space domain. This encompasses not only the ownership and utility of satellite assets but also includes a country's capability to domestically procure the manufacture, launch, and effectively deploy these assets into orbit and beyond from within its own borders for peaceful applications. This capability increasingly stems from a commercial sector that is global in outlook. For developing countries, this means attracting international talent, capital, and entrepreneurs to their shores, and keenly supporting their own entrepreneurial sector. This panel will discuss and explore (1) the necessity for South Africa to enhance its expanding, diverse private space ecosystem by fostering the growth of a commercial 'New Space' launch sector and (2) how the government should enable commercial launch by promoting effective and competitive licensing rules, regulations, and technology safeguards.

🎥 Highlights reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0y48lA2Al4

On behalf of NewCraft Aerospace, James presented on the topic of building the "Airbus of Africa", a vision leveraging decades of upstream and hardware manufacturing experience to build satellite or launch systems end-to-end on African soil.

The event was an invaluable platform to advance dialogue on South Africa’s space future and to underscore how innovation, private sector leadership, and strategic partnerships are shaping Africa’s sovereign role in the global space economy.

Presentation Slides: