31 July, 2025 – The small town of Stellenbosch has once again made history, not through wine, but in space, now home to a thriving satellite ecosystem.
CUBECOM, a satellite communication systems manufacturer in the Western Cape Space Cluster, was one of a few local suppliers to be included in the latest edition of the world’s most advanced space technologies portfolio, the NASA-State-of-the-Art-Report. Though this is not the first time CUBECOM has had products listed in the publication, it is newsworthy that their latest listings boast some of the fastest transmitters commercially available in both the nanosatellite and microsatellite markets. This moment is not happening in isolation. It is the result of a legacy that has been built over decades, and the world is taking notice.
South Africa’s space sector enters a boom era
“We are in the boom now,” said Sampie Booysen, CTO of CUBECOM. “The growth we are seeing across South Africa’s space sector is phenomenal. Teams are doubling, customers are global, and confidence in South African-built space tech is soaring.”
The Western Cape’s investment promotion agency, Wesgro, has identified the space sector as a priority for the province’s economic future. Its vision includes growing South Africa’s share of the global space economy by 2030, expanding export-ready technologies and attracting talent and capital into the region.
“Our aim is to identify investment opportunities and areas where growth can be accelerated. With strategic support, South Africa’s broader space economy holds significant potential for success, creating jobs and positioning the country as a key global player. The foundational elements are already in place, it’s time to capitalise on this potential and lift our economy to new horizons,” wrote Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro, on its website.
SUNSAT: The spark that ignited a movement
The South African space journey began in 1999 with SunSAT, the nation’s first microsatellite. Designed and built entirely in South Africa by postgraduate students at Stellenbosch University, it was launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in the United States. SunSAT proved that a small team of determined engineers could put an African-built satellite into orbit and set the foundation for a space legacy that thrives to this day.
That pioneering spirit lives on, as the legacy of the SunSAT team was the inception of what later produced a community of globally respected space companies in the region. Including CUBECOM (high data rate communication sub-systems), Simera Sense (optical payloads), CubeSpace (attitude determination and control systems), New Space Systems (guidance, navigation and control systems), Dragonfly Aerospace (satellite manufacturing and optical payloads), to name but a few. All are based in the Cape Region, each an expert in its niche, and together they represent a new era of South African excellence in the global satellite supply chain.
Cubecom: Building on proven orbit heritage
At the heart of CUBECOM’s boom is its flagship Microsatellite High Data Rate Transmitter (µHDRTX), which launched to orbit in its first demonstrator mission in January 2023, onboard SpaceX’s Transporter-6. Since then, the gigabit-per-second radio has successfully downlinked several terabytes of mission-critical data with incredible speed and continual performance reliability. The success of this mission has led to the biggest year of production for CUBECOM, with multiple mission integrators looking to baseline such a high-speed technology in their satellite constellations, especially in the wake of the New Space industry moving from an established nanosatellite focus to an ever-growing microsatellite market.
“Our recent inclusion in the global state-of-the-art index validates the quality of our engineering,’ said Johann de Swardt, CEO of CUBECOM. “It reflects not only our product, but the decades of cumulative engineering excellence this region represents. In an industry racing toward higher data rates and reliable downlinks, the µHDRTX has carved out its place as the go-to communications system for data-intensive missions, offering one of the fastest RF transmission speeds commercially available.”
CUBECOM has doubled its workforce in the past twelve months, expanded its production capacity, and broadened its product family to include a wide range of high-speed S-band, X-band, and Ka-band transmitters, antennas, and downconverters for the commercial space industry. They now lead the market in their K/Ka-band transmitter solutions, after completing a fully integrated compatibility test campaign at KSAT’s ground station network in Tromsø, Norway, earlier this year.
What sets South Africa apart
What sets these companies apart is not only their engineering excellence but also their resilience. The post-SUNSAT generation of engineers has matured into technology pioneers, showcasing the best of South African engineering with innovative technology solutions, whilst advancing the global space industry.
“The differentiator with South African engineers is their rare blend of theory and practical skill,” said Booysen. “At CUBECOM, we have to design lean, test hard, and deliver fast. That edge shows in how quickly and reliably we bring space-ready subsystems to market.”
CubeSpace, a pioneer in attitude and control systems, shared insights into the unique challenges and strengths of building a tech business in South Africa.
“Early-stage funding is not as readily available in South Africa as it is in Europe or the US. As a result, local companies must be laser-focused on understanding customer pain points and ensuring their products or services solve real, pressing problems. This necessity has fostered a generation of lean, agile, and globally competitive businesses, something clearly reflected in the success and rapid growth of South Africa’s commercial space industry,” said Mr Mike-Alec Kearney, Founder & CEO of CubeSpace.
Simera Sense, a producer of optical payloads for space, echoed this sentiment: “South African engineers bring more than just technical skill. They bring grit, creativity, and a deep systems understanding shaped by years of doing more with less,” said Thys Cronje, CCO at Simera Sense. “Our post-SUNSAT generation has grown into world-class innovators, pushing the boundaries of optical technology and proving that African-built systems can compete and lead, on the global stage.”
Technology first, then market fit
While the technology was always world-class, commercial strategy took time to refine.
‘We were engineers first, focused on solving difficult problems in space communications,” said De Swardt. “But it wasn’t immediately clear what the global market needed.”
That changed with guidance and investment from the Alphawave Group, which acquired CUBECOM in 2015 and helped shift the business from project-based survival to focused product development.
Alphawave acceleration
“Alphawave didn’t just bring capital,” noted Booysen. “They brought clarity. They asked: What is the one thing you can do better than anyone else? That question led us to focus entirely on high-speed transmitters, and it is why we are now a recognised global supplier.”
Frans Meyer, CEO of Alphawave Group, reflected on the journey. “South Africa is full of brilliant engineers, but turning technical brilliance into commercial success takes investment, structure, and market understanding. Our role at Alphawave has been to back the right people with the right product focus and help them scale into global markets.”
Meyer added, “It is inspiring to see how far CUBECOM has come, and even more exciting to see where they are going. Their success is a beacon for South Africa and for what is possible when great engineering is backed by strategic intent.”
From classroom to cosmos
The seeds planted in a Stellenbosch engineering lab twenty-five years ago have flourished. From one university-led satellite 25 years ago, South Africa now boasts a globally recognised cluster of private-sector companies, each pushing the limits of what is possible in space technology.
As Booysen concluded, “Our journey has always been about proving that the sky is not the limit, it is just the beginning.”
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