Cape Town to host top space event

THE SA National Space Agency (Sansa) in partnership with the Cape Town and Western Cape Convention Bureau has won the right to host the 2020 SpaceOps Conference, welcoming over 600 of the world’s finest space minds and generating local jobs.

With an estimated economic impact of over R11 million, the conference announcement coincides with the official launch of Cape Town’s Meer Kat, the world’s largest radio telescope, which scientists are hoping may detect extraterrestrial life.

The Sansa team accompanied the local organising committee to SpaceOps 2018, held in France in June to promote the destination and entice delegates to register for the 2020 conference.

Marseille, France, recently hosted the 15th Space Ops conference.

With several international space agencies involved in the biennial event, SpaceOps is used for promoting and maintaining an international community of space operations experts, and has done so for almost 30 years.

Along with playing host to hundreds of famous scientists, a major aim is to generate jobs in line with provincial government initiative Project Khulisa – a movement to create jobs in the tourism, agriprocessing, oil and gas industries.

Provincial minister of economic opportunities Alan Winde said: “The Western Cape prides itself on its innovation and technology. Securing this conference will also boost tourism and create jobs.”

Executive mayor of the City of Cape Town Patricia de Lille expressed delight: “We are enormously proud to see an increasing number of innovative gatherings choosing Cape Town as a destination of choice.”