By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
The South African National
Space Agency (SANSA) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) are
moving to deepen space cooperation, with plans to shift from dialogue towards
joint capability projects focused initially on technology development, disaster
management and disaster risk reduction.
The direction was agreed
during a meeting between SANSA leadership and CNSA Administrator Shan Zhongde
on September 9, 2026, in Paris, on the sidelines of the International Space
Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The engagement came two
weeks after a technical workshop between SANSA’s Space Engineering team and the
China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), providing further momentum for
bilateral cooperation.
SANSA said the next phase of
collaboration will be advanced through a formal Space Protocol Agreement, with
both sides seeking to identify areas where their respective capabilities can
complement each other and produce practical programmes with measurable
outcomes.
The proposed cooperation is
expected to focus on technology development and the application of space
capabilities to disaster management and disaster risk reduction.
SANSA said international
partnerships must ultimately contribute to building domestic capabilities in
South Africa through knowledge exchange, technology development, skills
transfer and co-creation.
The agency said the
cooperation with China is therefore intended not only to support joint projects
but also to strengthen South Africa’s sovereign space capabilities and
contribute to the wider African space ecosystem.
