SumbandilaSat EO satellite shows South Africa’s Space Mettle

11 January 2010

South Africa is moving quickly to put itself (and Africa) among the nations routinely using satellites to extend their reach—scientifically, technologically, economically, environmentally and for humanitarian purposes.

The recent launch of the government-commissioned SumbandilaSat satellite on September 17, 2009 is in many respects a demonstration intended to show South Africa’s commitment to building capacity in small and medium satellite design and construction. But the commitment goes beyond just building systems. In addition to its capacity building role, SumbandilaSat (a Venda word chosen by school children meaning “lead the way”) will provide real-time data for the benefit of the South African people to achieve many objectives, among them disaster relief, agriculture and forest sustainability, malaria prevention, elephant tracking, and urban planning.

But in order to understand the significance of SumbandilaSat, we have to begin with SunSat, South Africa’s first satellite.

In 1991 at Stellenbosch University, a first-rate research institution in South Africa’s second oldest city on the Western Cape, the faculty of the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, “decided to build a university satellite as a vehicle to train our graduate students in a large collaborative project as you normally find in industry,” recalls Prof. WH (Herman) Steyn, Group Head of Computer and Control Systems in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Their objectives were two-fold: to flex their intellectual and technical muscles by designing a South African satellite and to fulfill their Stellenbosch University mission by producing employable graduates. The historical background of both those objectives should not be over-simplified or glossed over. South Africa overturned apartheid and established its democracy in 1994. Recognizing the need to continue developing world-class graduates, they chose space engineering as one of their initiatives. The fact that South Africa’s six major research institutions are in the top 1% of universities worldwide would explain the drive of the Stellenbosch faculty and students to undertake such an ambitious project.

Says Steyn,”The students that worked on the SunsSat-1 satellite from 1991 to 1999 were all engineering students from Stellenbosch University and other SA universities doing their masters and PhDs in satellite engineering. About 5% of these students were from previously disadvantaged communities. We did, however, also enroll 50+ black BSc students in a Department of Communication sponsored program for a master’s degree and National Diploma in engineering during this time.”

So, in addition to making strides in achieving racial diversity, the SunSat project was on the right track to connect research to application as would soon be recommended by Dr. Philemon Mjwara, Director General of the Department of Science and Technology: “The South African system of innovation, its excellent universities, science councils and private sector players, has focused on basic research. What we’ve not done extremely well is to link research done at the universities with the needs of industry. ..”

Stellenbosch University engineers reached out effectively to industry, Steyn says. “The SA industry was interested in such a venture and also gave the necessary [financial] sponsorships to the students and the satellite.”

In 1999, SunSat became the very first South African satellite to reach orbit, with a mass of 64 kg. The payload was a small, multispectral imager with a 15 m resolution operating from an altitude of 600 km. It was launched in February 1999 by NASA, which assisted and advised the South African group during the satellite development.

Steyn confirms,”SunSat-1 was operational for 2 years in orbit, until its battery failed due to an increase in temperature when the orbit changed over time to be constantly exposed to the sun. The human capital development and in-orbit successes and experience gained definitely made the whole program a huge success.” [...]

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Source: Earthzine