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Government institution · Pretoria · South Africa

South African National Space Agency

In research, South African National Space Agency stands highest in Physical Sciences (#16,266 of 21,541 worldwide), over all time.

sansa.org.zaROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#22,186
of 28,054 · #29,490 all time
Rank in South Africa
#75
of 87
Research works
282
▲ 47% vs 2013–17
Citations
3.6k
12.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
7.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
58%
world 28%

What is South African National Space Agency known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Physical SciencesDomain #16,266 of 21,541 13.4%218

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where South African National Space Agency sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2.01× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 3.70× its world share, 16 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Chemistry: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.51× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 9.26× its world share, 12 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.36× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.60× its world share, 7 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 3.78× its world share, 15 worksEnvironmental SciencePhysics and Astronomy: 8.19× its world share, 15 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMedicineBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.31× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.65× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.27× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.18× its world share, 2 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 9.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at South African National Space Agency?

Ranked on the composite score, Pierre J. Cilliers, P.B. Kotzé and John Bosco Habarulema lead among researchers whose main affiliation is South African National Space Agency.

  1. 1 Pierre J. Cilliers South Africa · #408,516 worldwide 72 citations · 28 works
  2. 2 P.B. Kotzé South Africa · #944,507 worldwide 55 citations · 20 works
  3. 3 John Bosco Habarulema South Africa · #1,372,280 worldwide 34 citations · 23 works
All ranked researchers at South African National Space Agency

Which keywords describe research at South African National Space Agency?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: DNA Barcoding, Biogeography, Solar Wind, Evolution, Taxonomy, Phylogeny, Biodiversity and Species Delimitation.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. DNA Barcoding14▲ 105×7 topics
  2. Biogeography12▲ 58×6 topics
  3. Solar Wind10▲ 135×2 topics
  4. Evolution10▲ 49×5 topics
  5. Taxonomy10▲ 94×4 topics
  6. Phylogeny10▲ 80×5 topics
  7. Climate Change10▲ 4.4×29 topics
  8. Biodiversity8▲ 14×9 topics
  9. Species Delimitation8▲ 228×2 topics
  10. Molecular Phylogeny8▲ 61×2 topics
  11. Remote Sensing7▲ 7.3×12 topics
  12. Spider Phylogenomics7▲ 1360×1 topic
  13. Taxonomic Revision7▲ 126×1 topic
  14. Ionosphere6▲ 146×1 topic
  15. Magnetosphere6▲ 146×1 topic
  16. Lepidoptera6▲ 367×1 topic
  17. Molecular Phylogenetics6▲ 367×1 topic
  18. Machine Learning4▲ 1.73×8 topics
  19. Phylogeography4▲ 161×2 topics
  20. Speciation4▲ 118×2 topics
  21. Acoustic Communication4▲ 89×1 topic
  22. Orthoptera4▲ 811×1 topic
  23. Coronal Mass Ejections4▲ 119×1 topic
  24. Solar Dynamics Observatory4▲ 119×1 topic
  25. Ionospheric Anomalies3▲ 107×1 topic
  26. Seismic Electromagnetics3▲ 107×1 topic
  27. Air Quality3▲ 21×4 topics
  28. Climate3▲ 41×2 topics
  29. Water Quality3▲ 8.2×5 topics
  30. Orbit Determination2▲ 73×2 topics
  31. Biomass Estimation2▲ 18×3 topics
  32. Adaptation2▲ 9.5×4 topics
  33. GNSS2▲ 129×1 topic
  34. Global Navigation Satellite Systems2▲ 109×1 topic
  35. Satellite Observations2▲ 28×3 topics
  36. Land Use Change2▲ 8.2×5 topics
  37. Phenology2▲ 39×1 topic
  38. Vegetation Monitoring2▲ 39×1 topic
  39. Atmospheric Aerosols2▲ 41×1 topic
  40. Black Carbon2▲ 41×1 topic

Which research topics does South African National Space Agency publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics, Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy and Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy.

Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies: 7 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 6 fractional worksLepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy: 6 fractional worksOrthoptera Research and Taxonomy: 4 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 4 fractional worksEarthquake Detection and…3Earthquake Detection and Analysis: 3 fractional worksGNSS positioning and interference: 2 fractional worksRemote Sensing in Agriculture: 2 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 2 fractional worksGeomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies: 2 fractional works
GeneticsAstronomy and AstrophysicsEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsGeophysics4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies Genetics 7 works
  2. 2 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  3. 3 Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy Genetics 6 works
  4. 4 Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 4 works
  5. 5 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  6. 6 Earthquake Detection and Analysis Geophysics 3 works
  7. 7 GNSS positioning and interference Aerospace Engineering 2 works
  8. 8 Remote Sensing in Agriculture Ecology 2 works
  9. 9 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols Atmospheric Science 2 works
  10. 10 Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies Molecular Biology 2 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available57.8%not open42.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.8%domestic only66.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has South African National Space Agency's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 47% higher than in 2013–2017.

2005201020152020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Pretoria

All research institutions in Pretoria

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.