SumbandilaSat launch on track
In an interview with SA AMSAT, Johan Erasmus, SunSpace systems engineer speaking from Baikonur, said that the satellite travelled well and that all system performed to specification during the testing phase.
Tests were carried out in the clean room at the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. “All payloads operated well and we were able to test the amateur payload from a little distance away. The parrot, voice repeater and the voice beacon responded well,” said Erasmus.
The voice beacon message was recorded by Anton Coetzee, at the time a learner at the Technical High School Kimberley. His message was selected from entries in a competition to find the best message with which to launch SumbandilaSat. It reads: “This is ZSOSUM in space. I am the voice of the South African youth. We are knocking on the door of opportunity, marking our place in the orbit of space research and communication. Hear us! Listen to us!”
During the week the butane propulsion system tank was filled and the batteries were charged. On Wednesday 2 September SumbandilaSat was integrated with the launch platform.
The main payload, a Russian weather satellite, has also arrived at Baikonur and is currently being integrated into the launch structure. Next week the launch structure will be transported to the launch site and integrated with the Soyuz rocket. “With all now in place we can expect a launch on 15 September,” Johan Erasmus said.
A few members of the SunSpace team will remain behind to give the batteries a final charge so that when SumbandilaSat is separated from the final stage of the rocket the batteries are in a healthy state and to remove the last of the protective covers.
The focus is now shifting to the ground station at the University of Stellenbosch where the satellite will be commanded approximately 30 minutes after separation and three hours into the flight.
An intensive period of payload qualification will follow during which each system will be tested. This is expected to take up to 3 months after which the command will shift to the CSIR’s Satellite Application Centre at Hartebeeshoek, north of Pretoria.
Once the main payload, a Multi-spectral imager which has a 6.25m Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) with 6 spectral bands and is supported by an on-board storage of 24 Giga byte of memory and a main downlink of 72 Mb/s is fully put into service, will a schedule be set up according to which the various experimental payloads on board will be operated.
The experimental payloads, which were part of a capacity and expertise building initiative associated with the project, are:
Stellenbosch University
- Architectural radiation experiment for commercial off the shelf devices (ARECOTS) and a software defined radio project
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- A forced vibrating string experiment
University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Very low frequency (VLF) radio experiment
SA AMSAT – 2m/70cm amateur radio transponder, parrot repeater and a voice beacon. This payload will not only find use by the amateur radio fraternity but also has a large educational outreach aspect of bringing space sciences into the classroom.
SumbandilaSat is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and was built at SunSpace in cooperation with Stellenbosch University.
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