Military sites could help launch SA into space

Military sites could help launch SA into space
(South Africa Times) March 21, 2010, By Bobby Jordan
The government is considering reopening apartheid-era space rocket launch sites to fast-track a national space programme. The move coincides with a major breakthrough for the country's space science industry - the first detailed images from the national space satellite launched last year and now orbiting 500km above the earth. Naledi Pandor, the minister of science and technology, this week told the Sunday Times that the aim of the programme was to turn South Africa into a regional space hub. Recommissioning old launch sites would be a major step forward for the country's space ambitions, she said.