ZuluAlpha (Pty) Ltd is a South-African company establishing a private, carrier-class facility that leases secure “pads” (piers) for remotely-operated telescopes, optical ground-station terminals, debris-tracking sensors and related space-domain-awareness instruments. The first compound will open near Sutherland in the Northern Cape in 2026.

The Sutherland plateau offers some of the best astronomical conditions in the southern hemisphere: dark, Bortle 1 skies, very low light pollution, and typically clear weather throughout the year at ~1,600 m (>5,000 ft) elevation. These conditions already serve the South African Astronomical Observatory and the Southern African Large Telescope.

ZuluAlpha has acquired the 1,381 ha site and construction is under way. The access road, core power, connectivity and security infrastructure are complete, and the first client systems are being accepted. The shared roll-off-roof observatory is expected to become operational around September/October 2026.

Long-term meteorological studies indicate >270 clear nights per year at Sutherland. A dedicated on-site sky-quality meter will refine the figure once construction is complete.

We welcome most optical or near-infrared telescopes up to ~1 m aperture, satellite lasercom terminals, debris-tracking cameras, small SAR downlink dishes and similar payloads. If your hardware has special footprint, power or network needs, please contact info@zulualpha.co.za so we can confirm compatibility.

We aim to offer the lowest pricing that we can to our customers. This includes power, primary & secondary internet links, 24/7 monitoring and standard maintenance.

Yes. A fully-refundable reservation deposit secures your pad and also covers the basic installation of one telescope. The exact amount will be confirmed once foundation costs have been tendered.

Standard terms are 12, 24 or 36 months. Longer tenancies (up to 20 years) can be negotiated for clients installing heavy infrastructure.

Volume and research-partnership pricing is on the roadmap. Please enquire—decisions are case-by-case while capacity is being built out.

The compound runs on a 30kW / 60kWh LiFePO₄ off-grid array with a 40 kVA diesel generator plus solar-battery hybrid providing ≥48 h autonomy. A full DC-UPS backbone keeps critical loads online during changeover.

Primary: 10/2 Mb s fixed-wireless (Herotel) with line-of-sight to Sutherland town. Backup: Starlink Business (roaming plan) providing 100 Mb s down / 15 Mb s up and <40 ms RTT. Client VLANs and OpenVPN endpoints are available. High-speed fibre backhaul (1 Gbps) has been programmed for install in 2026

• Secure perimeter fence with electric fencing, anti-dig skirt
• PTZ + IR CCTV recorded to redundant NVRs and cloud backup
• Electronic gate and smart-lock control
• Environmental automation: roofs/weather shutters auto-close on high wind, rain, cloud or UPS low-battery events.

A dedicated freight-forwarding address in Sutherland and Cape Town will be issued once reservation is confirmed. For now, please do not send equipment until we notify you that import permits, if required, are in place.

You supply the telescope, mount, cameras, control computer, power supplies, and all interconnect cables. ZuluAlpha supplies the steel pier, adapter plate, structured cabling, AC outlets and Ethernet hand-off.

We can recommend logistics agents familiar with South-African customs. Clients remain the importer of record. Temporary import (ATA Carnet) or rebate entries can be arranged for non-resident owners.

A standard single-OTA system is usually cabled, balanced, polar-aligned and on-sky within 2 weeks after arrival, weather permitting. Complex multi-sensor rigs may take longer.

Resident technicians live near the farm and cover the night shift. We aim to have tickets answered within 24 h; emergency weather/roof actions are automated and monitored continuously.

Basic remote hands, including visual inspections, power cycles and cable checks, are billed at US$40 per hour. Technical remote hands, including configuration and diagnostics, are billed at US$80 per hour. Engineering, after-hours and managed-support services are available under our support-credit and subscription plans. Work is quoted and approved before commencement wherever practicable.

Client visits will be possible by prior arrangement once construction is complete. Casual drop-ins, unfortunately, cannot be accommodated for safety and regulatory reasons.

KCAA – Karoo Central (radio-quiet zones): Our Sutherland site is outside the KCAA footprint, so KCAA radio restrictions do not apply there.

SCAAA – Sutherland Central (optical protections): At the Sutherland site, the rules focus on external lighting and dust-generating works. We ensure compliance on lighting specs and construction practices.

Not at Sutherland—outside KCAA.

Mainly light-control (full cut-off, suitable spectra/curfews) and dust-management during works. We can share a lighting/dust checklist.

A basic assessment is under way; no material objections have been raised to date. Final EIA approval is expected in Q2 2026.

Sometimes exempt, sometimes not—depends on service class and band. We’ll point you to the relevant exemption/requirement and check that your equipment is type-approved.

You can bundle requests for one site/system, but ICASA still evaluates/assigns per band/frequency. We’ll help you present complete technicals for each band.

Completed spectrum form, technical parameters (freq, BW, EIRP, antenna), site coordinates, satellite details (name & orbital slot), type-approval evidence, and proof of fee payment. We can review a draft pack before you submit.

No. The client remains the applicant and licence holder. We guide and review; we don’t assume liability, make guarantees, or act as your legal/technical representative unless expressly agreed later.

Yes. While ZuluAlpha takes every reasonable precaution, ultimate responsibility for insuring customer equipment lies with the owner. Many clients extend existing commercial-asset policies or take stand-alone “all-risk” cover. The facility insurance does not cover third-party payloads.

The site is designed for resilience and includes automated park/roof-close logic plus generator-backed UPS. However, force-majeure clauses apply; clients rely on their own insurance for equipment replacement.

Phase-1 builds one pad; expansion to 3 pads by 2027 is planned, subject to demand.

Yes! A bundled “pad + telescope + operations” option is being created with OEM partners—watch this space.

Time-share services are on the roadmap but will launch only after the core hosting business is stable.

Southern-hemisphere skies at European-equivalent latency
Extremely dark site protected by national legislation
Transparent, flat-rate pricing
Direct involvement of professional astronomers and engineers on-site
Strategic location for lasercom and cross-hemisphere SSA coverage

Join the mailing list or follow @ZuluAlphaStar on Instagram. Major milestones will also be posted on the website’s “Status” page.