SUNSAT

TheStellenbosch UNiversity SATelliteorSUNSAT(COSPAR 1999-008C) was the firstminiaturized satellitedesigned and manufactured in South Africa.It was launched aboard aDelta IIrocket from theVandenberg Air Force Baseon 23 February 1999 to become the first launched South African satellite. Sunsat was built by post-graduate engineering students at theUniversity of Stellenbosch.ItsAMSATdesignation wasSO-35(Sunsat Oscar 35).

Last contact by ground control with SUNSAT was on 19 January 2001 and on 1 February 2001 the end of SUNSAT's functional life in orbit was announced. The satellite operated in orbit for nearly 2 years.

It is predicted to reenter the atmosphere after about 30 years from launch.

Specifications

SUNSAT satellite specifications:

• Size: 45 x 45 x 60 cm
• Mass: 64 kg
• Launcher: Delta II rocket, Mission P-91
• Program cost: US $5M (Approximate); the launch was free of charge as SUNSAT was orbited as a secondary payload. The primary payload of the launch wasARGOS,and the DanishOrstedsatellite was another secondary payload.
• Planned lifetime: 4–5 years (NiCadBattery pack life)
• Main payloads:
  • Amateur radiocommunications
  • Data interchange
  • Stereomultispectral imager
• Attitude control:Gravity gradientandmagnetorquers,reaction wheelswhen imaging
• Accuracy: 3mradpitch/roll, 6 mrad yaw
• 2 Micro Particle Impact Detectors were included as part of experiments conducted in orbit
  • A team (Zaahied Cassim and Rashid Mohamed) fromPeninsula Technikondesigned and built circuits for both their own piezo film technology andNASAsupplied capacitive sensors.
• SSC 25636

Pushboom imager

• Ground pixel size: 15 m x 15 m
• Image width: 51.8 km