SA satellite broadcasts first images
“I’m excited that our nation is in space… We intend to use our minds and our resources to take a leadership position in space. We are on track, we can be among the best,” Pandor said at the satellite applications centre in Brits.
Sumbandila, meaning “lead the way” in Tshivenda cost, more than R20 million to build and R12m to launch. It was developed by the private enterprise SunSpace, consisting of University of Stellenbosch students and academics.
Pandor said the project was important for the country to advance.
“We must develop our own capabilities,” she said, adding that she was pleased that the satellite was delivering what it was built for.
SumbandilaSAT weighs 81 kilogrammes and carries a 6.25 metre ground sampling distance. The multispectral imager moves at a speed of 7 kilometres a second. Russia was contracted for the launch five months ago.
Pandor said the project would strengthen the country’s existing technological capabilities and space resources, expand capacity development and training in satellite engineering, and provide earth-observation satellite data.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s mission control specialist Gladys Magagula said the satellite would pass over South Africa twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
Sumbandila would be able to collect imaging data during national emergencies like floods and fires, would be able to assist with water resource management, the prediction of epidemics and outbreaks, the estimation of crop yields, land use and infrastructure, safety and security and energy.
It is the second satellite the country has launched in 11 years.
In 1998, South Africa built the satellite SunSAT, weighing about 64kg, with the assistance of the National Archives of South Africa.
It was launched the following year.
Speaking about the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) – a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope but one of the largest and most powerful in its own right — Pandor said the country was “moving well” in terms of deadline.
South Africa is in a race with Australia to host the E1.5 billion SKA telescope, the most powerful radio telescope ever.
SA satellite broadcasts first images << Discussion
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