R27m funding for ZACube-2
Department invests in 4IR for oceans, fires
THE Department of Science and Technology (DST) has hailed the country’s second nanosatellite ZACube-2 and committed to further support the development of a constellation of satellites through the investment of R27 million.
This was announced by the department’s director general, Dr Phil Mjwara, at a plenary hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) yesterday.
The ZACUBE-2 is considered the most advanced on the continent, and the contracting of more nanosatellites will assist South Africa’s ocean monitoring efforts and veldfire detection.
It was funded by the DST in support of Operation Phakisa, to provide cutting-edge, high-frequency data exchange communication systems to the maritime industry.
Mjwara said Africa’s most advanced nanosatellite was built with expertise from one of the country’s own university’s and had opened up a world of opportunities in terms of Marine Domain Awareness (MDA).
“We have contracted CPUT to develop three more nanosatellites to the value of R27m to be launched by 2020. This investment will allow us to take full advantage of SA’s vast and exclusive economic zone, our oceans, which have the potential to add R177 billion to the country’s gross domestic product and create over 1 million jobs by 2033,” he said.
Mjwara said the national government had shown interest in spending more to improve the country’s space capabilities with the potential to address its scientific, economic and social changes, in line with the challenges and opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He said the ZACube-2 would monitor the movement of ships along the coastline with its automatic identification system (AIS). It had already received useful data which could be fed into the Oceans and Coast Information Management System for Operation Phakisa.
The CPUT space programme has already graduated more than 60 postgraduate students, many of whom worked on SA’s first nanosatellite ZACube-1, which continues to transmit space weather data four years after it was commissioned.
CPUT Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo likened the plenary briefing to ZACube-2’s first report card and said they anticipated it would pass with flying colours, just as its predecessor did.
The head of the CPUT Space Programme, Prof Robert Van Zyl, said: “Currently South Africa purchases its AIS data at huge cost from outside service providers, and we are now in a position to provide our own data, but at present only twice a day.
“Once we have a constellation of satellites providing a constant flow of data it will go towards proving SA has the indigenous knowledge to provide this technology for our country.”