South Africa plans to train and send two female
astronauts to the International Space Station, South African National Space
Agency (Sansa) CEO Humbulani Mudau has said.
Mudau
said the country hopes to fulfil this plan in the next two years.
According
to a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in South Africa, Mudau revealed
the plan during the opening ceremony of a Russian space debris detection centre
in South Africa.
The
facility’s full name is the Russian Optical and Electronic Complex for
Detection and Measurement of the Movement Parameters of Space Debris.
Roscosmos
Director General Yury Borisov said the rapid growth of participants in space
exploration and satellites in orbit leads to increasing collision threats.
“Under
these conditions, it is important to develop space monitoring stations and
strive for global coverage of space by such means,” stated Borisov.
Borisov
said he hoped cooperation between Russia and South Africa would develop
dynamically and that the complex would not be the last joint project.
Mudau was announced as Sansa CEO in March and
appointed effective 1 April 2023.
He
replaced Val Munsami, who resigned from the agency in February. Andiswa Mlisa
served as acting CEO until Mudau was appointed.
Mudau
holds a Masters in Satellite Remote Sensing from the University of Paris VI, a
B.Sc. Honours in Environmental Management and Geospatial Sciences from the
University of Johannesburg, a Certificate in Remote Sensing from the University
of Johannesburg, and a B.Sc. Biological Sciences from the University of Venda.
He
has over 20 years of technical and management experience in Space Science and
Technology, particularly in Earth Observation systems, space technology
development, and remote sensing and geospatial applications.
Source:
Mybroadband
