Groundbreaking SA nanosatellite to provide info on oceans

SOUTH Africa’s most advanced nanosatellite to date, ZACube-2, is scheduled for launch into space on Thursday with the Russian Soyuz Kanopus mission from Siberia.

The ZACube-2 will be launched together with small satellites from the US, Japan, Spain, and Germany. It will be orbited as a secondary payload in a launch mission designed for real-time monitoring of natural and man-made disasters and other emergencies.

ZACUBE-2, described as the most advanced on the continent, will provide cutting-edge remote sensing and communication services to South Africa and the region.

Weighing just 4kg, the ZACube-2 is South Africa’s second nanosatellite to be launched into space. It is three times the size of its predecessor, TshepisoSat.

ZACube-2 is regarded as the continent’s most advanced cube satellite and is a precursor to the MDASat – a constellation of nine nanosatellites that will be developed to provide high-frequency data exchange communication systems to the maritime industry.

The project, which is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), supports Operation Phakisa. The DST’s entity, the SA National Space Agency, in co-operation with the University of Montpellier, the French Embassy and the Paris Chamber of Commerce, manages the project.

In April, Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, attended the send-off ceremony and met the team of young people who worked on the Zacube-2.

At the time, the nanosatellite was scheduled for launch from India, in June 2018. Excess capacity induced by primary and secondary payloads on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, resulted in a delay and an alternative arrangement was made.

“The launch of ZACube-2 represents a significant milestone in the nation’s ambition to becoming a key player in the innovative utilisation of space science and technology in responding to government priority areas,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

The satellite is a technology demonstrator for Maritime Domain Awareness. It will monitor the movement of ships along the South African coastline with its automatic identification system (AIS) payload.

The AIS navigational data will be provided to the government in support of the Operation Phakisa initiative to grow the maritime economy. The satellite also carries a camera that will detect veld fires from space.

“This is the most technologically advanced nanosat that will provide critical information for our oceans economy. I am particularly excited that the satellite was developed by some of our youngest and brightest minds under a programme representing our diversity, in particular black students and young women,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

The ZACube-2 will be given a new name soon, after a national satellite naming competition launched in April by the SA Agency for Science and Technology Advancement, an entity of the DST. The agency received more than 300 entries from Grade 4-12 pupils.

The results had been finalised and the new name of the nanosatellite would be announced in due course, Kubayi-Ngubane said.

I am particularly excited that the satellite was developed by our youngest and brightest.

Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane Minister of Science and Technology