The emergence of three highly innovative local aerospace technologies with great promise for successful commercialisation proves that the Aerospace Industry Support Initiative (AISI) is making a real impact in the South African aerospace industry.
The AISI is an initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), managed and hosted by the CSIR, with an ambitious mandate to position the country as a global leader in niche areas of industry.
“It is important to the dti to be able to show that the funding and support provided by the AISI is making a genuine impact on the industry. We are therefore proud to be able to say that we played a role in helping these three exciting aerospace SMMEs to get off the ground,” says Marié Botha, manager for the AISI. “It also shows us that our criteria for selecting which aerospace efforts to fund and support are in line with sector strategies and international benchmarks.”
The technology-based SMMEs in question include a company that is the first in South Africa to be able to provide radiation screening and mitigation services for satellite components; a company that employs a unique stellar gyroscope to function as a reliable attitude control system for nanosatellites; and a company that has developed a micro gas turbine engine that has the potential to be used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Read more: http://www.csir.co.za/enews/2015_May/18.html