Marcom developing South African rocket engine

South Africa moves towards greater self-sufficiency in space through local company Marcom Aeronautics & Space, who is developing the MAS-10K rocket engine in support of its Cheetah-1 satellite launch vehicle. The Cheetah-1 is designed to carry up to 1000kg to low-Earth orbit.

The MAS-10K is designed and manufactured entirely in South Africa. A main objective of the development is to ascertain the costs involved in developing and manufacturing more substantial engines, as well as benchmark the total cost of developing local launch capability in South Africa.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has announced that workshops will be held to create a firm launch plan, as South Africa plans to launch satellites within the next 15 years and break into the global satellite launching market and lower the cost of launching its own satellites. According to the UK Space Strategy, the overall world market for the space industry is likely to reach £400 billion by 2030.