Ground control to Icasa: space has enough internet cowboys

The regulatory body faces a tricky balancing act: expanding connectivity and facilitating technological innovation while protecting SA's scientific assets, ensuring fair competition and more.

- By Lindsey Schutters

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Karoo is one of the most sensitive scientific instruments on the planet - so sensitive that it could detect a cellphone signal on Pluto.

This level of sensitivity makes the SKA and its predecessor, MeerKAT, invaluable for astronomy, but also incredibly vulnerable to interference.

This fragility has prompted concern as the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) pushes ahead with a proposed new licensing framework for satellite services — a move widely seen as paving the way for Starlink and other low Earth orbit (LEO) mega-constellations to enter the market formally.

Although the potential for expanding internet access is clear, so are the risks. At the centre of the debate are the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Sarao) and the South African National Space Agency (Sansa), both of which have warned that the unchecked proliferation of LEO satellites threatens not only the integrity of scientific research, but also the sustainability of South Africa’s space environment.

'A clear and present risk'