South Africa and Russia will maintain win-win cooperation in the fields of space and science, South Africa's Embassy to Russia told Sputnik Africa.
"South Africa and Russia will continue pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation in the area of space, and generally in science, innovation and technology," the embassy said.
According to the diplomatic body, Pretoria will facilitate the development of cooperation in these "priority areas."
These issues, the embassy noted, are considered by the countries within the annual bilateral mechanism, namely the Joint Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Speaking of specific examples of the countries' common activities in the space sector, the embassy cited the joint use of the Panoramic Electro-Optical System (PanEOS) to detect and measure the motion parameters of space objects.
In this vein, Russia agreed with South Africa to set up a PanEOS antenna in the African country, authorities stressed.
"It is anticipated that this state-of-the-art scientific instrument will assist many agencies with future launches into space, as it will help them avoid possible collisions with space junk," the embassy noted, adding that it is an "important demonstration of social responsibility – not only for our own planet, but for space itself."
In June, the executive director of the South African National Space Agency, Khumbulani Mudau, stated that South Africa was ready to engage in space cooperation with Russia.