SA's second satellite, Sumbandila, is to undergo environmental testing at the Institute for Software and Space Applications (ISSA), near the Western Cape town of Grabouw, its last milestone before its December launch.
"This week, the communications and experimental payloads will be integrated in readiness for the rigorous testing cycle which will start immediately after payload integration," says Hendrik Burger, systems engineer at SunSpace, which designed and built the satellite.
The Department of Science and Technology sponsors the Sumbandila satellite to create much needed activity in the space environment in SA. Sumbandila is a microsat weighing 81kg and will carry a multi-spectral imager, and several experiments from various interest groups, into a low earth polar orbit, making its appearance over SA mid-morning and mid-evening.
ISSA is an initiative of the Department of Communications, aimed at meeting the high-level needs of the ICT sector. It is housed at the Houwteq space facilities. The facility is fully equipped for the design, programme management, integration and testing of small satellites.
Sias Mostert, a SunSpace director, says the Houwteq facility was originally built for the "Greensat" defence satellite programme that was shut down in 1994.
"The facility has a value of about R3 billion and the Department of Communications has been the custodian of the facility for the past seven years. It is thanks to them that it is very well maintained," he says.
Self-diagnose
Mostert says the environmental testing will establish if the satellite can withstand the rigours of space. This includes the very high vibration levels it will experience just after launch, the heating and cooling effects it will undergo during its 14 orbits around the earth every day of its operational life and the ability to self-diagnose faults.
"While up there it is totally on its own and no one can help it if it runs into trouble," Mostert says.
Testing will continue throughout October. During the first week of November the satellite will be shipped to Russia for integration with the rocket and transported to a submarine from where the satellite will be launched. The launch window is between 20 and 25 December.
"We could have a great Christmas present," says Mzukizi Mazula, the University of Stellenbosch's project manager for Sumbandile. "It all depends on a successful testing phase."
The main payload is a multi-spectral imager which has a 6.5m ground sampling distance with six spectral bands and is supported by an on-board storage of 6GB, expandable to 24GB.
Among the experimental payloads are SA AMSAT - 2m/70cm amateur radio transponder and "digitalker". This payload will be useful to the amateur radio fraternity, and has a large educational aspect of bringing space science into the classroom.
Related story:
SA satellite set for December launch
Share