AAC Clyde Space, a leading New space company, today announced it has founded AAC Space Africa to capitalize on the rapidly growing market for satellites and space services in Africa. AAC Space Africa will design, build, and deliver space missions to the continent from its Cape Town base in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. The new subsidiary will also be the group’s centre of competence for advanced radio communication.
The new company will be managed by Dr Robert Van Zyl as Managing Director and Francois Visser as Technical Director. They bring more than 40 years of small satellite experience to the company, having pioneered the African CubeSat industry through several missions, including the first CubeSat launched by the continent. Their expertise spans all facets of New space technologies, with a special focus on communications.
The team will initially focus on radio communication systems as well as sales and marketing. The team is expected to grow quickly in the coming year to meet demand from the African space economy, which is set to grow to $10 billion by 2024 (NewSpace Africa Industry Report 2019).
“The need for space services in Africa is growing rapidly as Government, companies and communities seek efficient ways to support development and build out crucial infrastructure. We see great potential for small satellites to provide timely, accurate and targeted data for sectors such as weather forecasting, ocean monitoring, agricultural planning, and land management.
The ability to provide data from space and monitor key issues across the continent will help Africa develop at a far more rapid pace over the next decade. Adding local presence and expert knowledge to our existing commercial offering will put AAC in an excellent position to address these growing needs. We look forward to taking an active role in the South African space community and the wider market,” says CEO Luis Gomes.
AAC selected South Africa as the base for its new subsidiary AAC Space Africa, as the country has an established space industry as well as a strong position in communication systems, with highly skilled engineers and data scientists. AAC Space Africa will also be the centre of competence for advanced radio communication systems for the entire AAC group, becoming the worldwide supplier of advanced radio systems for AAC’s space missions.
AAC Clyde Space has previously been active in the African market through its European companies’ hubs, most recently by supporting Mauritius in its efforts to become a space nation and to track ocean currents with earth observation technologies.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please visit: www.aac-clyde.space
ABOUT AAC CLYDE SPACE
AAC Clyde Space specialises in small satellite technologies and services that enable businesses, governments and educational organisations to access high-quality, timely data from space. Its growing capabilities bring together three divisions:
Space Data as a Service – delivering data from space directly to customers
Space missions – turnkey solutions that empower customers to streamline their space missions
Space products and components – a full range of off-the-shelf and tailor-made subsystems, components and sensors
AAC Clyde Space aims to become a world leader in commercial small satellites and services from space, applying advances in its technology to tackle global challenges and improve our life on Earth.
The Group’s main operations are located in Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Africa and the USA, with partner networks in Japan and South Korea.
AAC Clyde Space’s shares are traded on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market. Erik Penser Bank AB, e-mail certifiedadviser@penser.se, telephone +46 8 463 83 00, is the Certified Adviser. The share is also traded on the US OTCQX-market under the symbol ACCMF.
