South Africa’s first nanosatellite launched
LEGAL: A representative from the South African Council for Space Affairs handed the nanosatellite license to CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga and Director of F’SATI Prof Robert van Zyl. It will now be included in South Africa’s national register of space assets.
Friday, 22 November 2013
South Africa’s first nanosatellite has made its way into space and is orbiting Earth at an altitude of 600km.
ZACUBE-1, which was renamed as Tshepiso, took off on Thursday morning from the Yasny Launch Base in Russia and moments after 9am made its first pass over South Africa. By 12pm the Ground Station at CPUT had made its first contact with the nanosatellite.
This historic event was celebrated at a launch ceremony on the Bellville Campus that was attended by government officials, local and international members of industry and CPUT staff and students.
NAME: ZACUBE-1 was renamed as Tshepiso, which means promise, by learner Chachane Kgothalang, from Bethel Junior Secondary School in Matatiele, Eastern Cape. The renaming was part of a competition run by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement
CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga says the university has made history on the African continent for being the first to develop and launch a nanosatellite.
This innovative device was built by CPUT postgraduate students at the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI) in collaboration with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). Over the next few years it will monitor space weather.
LEADERS: Chief Engineer at F’SATI, Francois Visser and Prof Robert van Zyl hold an example of a nanosatellite. Visser was instrumental in the building of the device
South African National Space Agency (SANSA) CEO, Dr Sandile Malinga says the data gathered on space weather, which will be used by the organization, is integral to the understanding and monitoring of solar activity during this period of solar maxima, when the sun is currently at the peak of its 11-year solar weather cycle.
“This is a phenomenon that can have critical implications to the functionality of our technology and electricity on Earth as well as the operation of satellites,” says Malinga.
The launch of Tshepiso also affirms CPUT’s place as a leading institution in the development of human skills capacity for the space science industry.
CELEBRATE: CPUT Vice-Chancellor Designate Dr Prins Nevhutala and Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga applaud as the nanosatellite takes off into space
Chief Director of Space Science at the Department of Science and Technology, Humbulani Mudau says F’SATI graduates will be critical for the successful implementation of the country’s space programme.
Mudau says the DST, which sponsored the development of the nanosatellite, will continue to support the activities of F’SATI.
Interview with F'SATI by News24
Written by Candes Keating
Email: keatingc@cput.ac.za
Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.
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