Today (21 November) marks four years since the launch of CPUT’s TshepisoSAT (code-named ZACUBE-1) from Yasny Launch Base in Russia.

“At four years, ZACUBE-1 has far exceeded the average lifespan of a typical CubeSat, and demonstrates the unique capabilities of the CPUT satellite development team,” says Prof Robert van Zyl, Director of the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI) and the Africa Space Innovation Centre.The launch of TshepisoSAT was an historic event that has led to a cascade of developments spearheaded by the F’SATI

They include the development and marketing internationally of advanced CubeSat radio systems to an expanding customer base. More than a hundred such systems have been exported, many of which are currently deployed on CubeSats orbiting in space. Cutting-edge technologies for ship tracking and forest fire detection are also being developed by the team in partnerships with leading South African companies.

The F’SATI team is currently working on ZACUBE-2, which will be launched in May 2018. This mission is funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the South African National Space Agency, and will be the most advanced South African CubeSat to date. The satellite is a precursor mission for constellations of CubeSats that will provide maritime communications in support of Operation Phakisa. The satellite ground station on the roof of the DEECE building will be upgraded in preparation for the launch of ZACUBE-2.

CPUT is also recognised internationally as a hub for CubeSat development and operations. PlanetLabs, a US-based global player in the CubeSat industry, has recently contracted the university to provide ground support for its missions. PlanetLabs manages more than 200 CubeSats in space and requires ground support from stations dotting the globe. “The technical support we provide to PlanetLabs missions will provide fertile ground for learning. We’re also ensuring a third stream income for the university through providing services to industry,” says Van Zyl.

If you are interested in joining the dynamic F’SATI team, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We offer undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate training in our state of the art laboratories.

Written by Abigail Calata

The global news channel, CNN is set to feature the developments in technology, research and work in space science and engineering at CPUT.

Nyameko Royi, a senior engineer at Africa Space Innovation Centre (ASIC) and at French South African Institute of Technology Institute (F’SATI) said this follows recent CNN interviews with some of the engineers who are involved with the development of nanosatellites at CPUT.

“We briefly discussed our nanosatellite missions, past and future, which are ZaCUBE-1, ZACUBE-2 and MDASat-1,” Royi continued.

“We introduced CNN to our labs, where most of our staff spend their day performing simulations, discussing concepts and latest trends in satellite development. We also showed them our production lab where we test and do an inspection of our products. We also went through the Flight Model area where flight-ready equipment is packaged and cleaned before it’s assembled into a Flight Model in the cleanroom.”

He said ZACUBE-1’s mission is to characterise antenna array on Antarctica. The ZACUBE-2 has two payloads, Software Defined Radio (SDR) with an Automatic Identification System (AIS) used in the marine domain to observe ships’ movement in our Exclusive Economic Zone.  The hosted payload in collaboration with the CSIR – K-Line Camera detects potassium in veld fires which could be used as a supplementary to veld firefighting and detection.

MDASat-1 Constellation is a collection of three satellites with an upgraded AIS - SDR which will be used to track and trace vessels on the South African coastal shore. AIS onboard the MDASat 1 can track the ship speed, direction and position of the ship. It also provides the name of the ship, the destination and the origin. It can be used for rescue purposes and in cases of oil spillage on our coastal shores.   

Royi was not sure about the date and programme on which the interviews will be televised. “There is a programme called African Voices Changemakers on CNN, it will be part of that… In the end, this would be part of a 30 minutes’ documentary, an assembly of stories about technology and embracing the 4IR in Africa.”

Among the engineers who were interviewed was Lilie Leopold, who discussed the mission labs - the assembling of flat satellites on the test bench where all the subsystems of the satellite are connected and tested. This is the first stage on the development of the satellite.  Morne Roman shared some insights on the Altitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) operation, together with Royi.

 “We showed the 3D models of the past missions and current missions. We also discussed the success stories of ZACUBE-1 launched in 2013 November and ZACUBE-2 launched in December 2018. We discussed the objectives of both missions and the current mission,” Royi remarked.

Stephan Cupido discussed ZACUBE-2 AIS main payload and the MDASat -1 which is the current mission with AIS payload. He also shared the Ground Station(GS) operations information data acquisition from satellite to the GS to the end-user.

Royi also shared the background of the F’SATI academic programme/ASIC engineering development and training programme as to, how and when it started in 2009 and what were the objectives of the programmes.

“This will be an international advertisement for CPUT where it pertains to the University research and development. With the ASIC programme, this will showcase our beautiful inventions in space engineering and the capability to develop lasting solutions for the world and humanity at large.”   

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Kanyisa Mtshemla originally toyed with studying sound engineering, but decided to make the trek to Cape Town because he thought the student life infrastructure would be better here than in Joburg.

This meant switching to his other choice of electrical engineering, but this turned out a fortuitous decision because he found his home.

 The 31-year-old now graduates his Masters in Electrical Engineering this week, but he is just as excited about having worked on ZACube-2, the second nanosatellite developed by F’Sati at CPUT, which launches into outer space in the middle of the year.

His Masters research was in the nanosatellite constellation configuration, investigating which was the design best suited to optimise revisit time (satellite revisit time is the time elapsed between observations of the same point on earth by a satellite and ZACube-2 will be tracking ship movement along the South African coastline).

He got to work on the software of the “image payload” (the camera).

Mtshemla started working in Mossel Bay in 2014 after he graduated with his BTech in electrical engineering and registered for his Masters, travelled back and forth on the weekends. That didn’t work so well and he didn’t bother registering in 2015, but once his work contract ended he decided to head back to CPUT.

“There’s a lot to consider when doing your Masters and it helped that there were people here I could ask for help,” he said.

He inadvertently spent a good part of 2016 falling asleep in the laboratory at night because he was working on the Engineers in Training programme for hands-on training during the day and his Masters research in the evening. 

“The challenge was to do the task for the lab and in the evening work on the thesis,” he remembers.

Mtshemla is very proud that his parents will be making the trip up from Queenstown to watch him graduate. Not only does he get to show off the campus he has lived on for the past few years, but graduating justifies the decision to study for his Masters even when he knew they felt strongly that he should be working.

“If I had quit the masters studies when I had defied them that would have been bad. They supported me even when I did the opposite of what they suggested,” he explained.

While Mtshela will finally have to move off campus and find his own living space, he will still be on campus every day because he joins the Mission Engineers team, working on the next set of nanosatellites.

He thinks he might even consider working on a PhD, just as long as there is no more falling asleep in the labs.

Written by Theresa Smith
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Provides coverage for the Applied Sciences and Engineering Faculties and the Wellington Campus.

Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane hailed the send-off of the ZACube-2 satellite as a job well done by CPUT.

Kubayi-Ngubane delivered the keynote address at the nano-satellites send-off ceremony at the Bellville campus of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology yesterday. 

“We are excited about the work you are doing here because the country has a deficit of space engineers, especially black and female ones,” she told the gathering. “We are trying to achieve a critical and meaningful role in the global space economy and need you to do that.”

ZACube-2 will now be shipped to The Netherlands where it would be integrated with other CubeSats. It would then make its way to India from where it will eventually be launched.

Nano-satellites are small satellites weighing between 1kg and 10kg and ZACube-2 was developed by the internationally acclaimed French South African Institute at CPUT, which made history when it launched Africa’s first nano-satellite in 2013.

ZACube-2 is a triple unit CubeSat - three times the size of its predecessor and will monitor marine traffic along the South African coast and feed Operation Phakisa objectives. Data received from ships includes the ships’ GPS coordinates, registration information, speed and direction of travel and will assist the authorities to track ship traffic in our exclusive economic zone and improve the safety of ships. ZACube-2 will also carry an advanced camera, which will detect forest and veld fires.

CPUT’s Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Technology and Innovation Professor Marshall Sheldon says the university has an all-encompassing approach to learning which sees all aspects of the satellite development happen on in high tech on-campus facilities like a cleanroom, production and development areas, state of the art test equipment and a ground station.

“Nano-satellites are affordable to produce and provide a paradigm shift from the traditional large-satellite industry. Highly responsive and agile they provide real-world solutions to real-world issues,” she says.

“Initiatives like ZACube-2 are helping to attract more learners to careers in space engineering and as it does, the abundance of ingenuity, creativity and entrepreneurship that pulsates through the youth of South Africa becomes ever more apparent.”

*Operation Phakisa is an initiative of the South African government aimed at implementing priority programmes better, faster and more effectively.

*The ZACube-2 mission is an initiative funded by the Department of Science and Technology, the South African National Space Agency, the National Research Foundation and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Our technology partners include the CSIR, Stone Three, Stellenbosch University (CubeSpace), Astrofica, Luvhone, Etse, Spaceteq and Clyde Space.

Written by Lauren Kansley
Tel: +27 21 953 8646
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

The internationally acclaimed French South African Institute at CPUT, which made history when it launched Africa’s first nano-satellite in 2013, today celebrates another milestone for our space industry.

Government officials and industry representatives will be among the guests at the official send-off ceremony for ZACube-2, South Africa’s most advanced CubeSat to date.

ZACube-2 is a triple unit CubeSat - three times the size of its predecessor - which was called TshepisoSat.

Nano-satellites are small satellites weighing between 1kg and 10kg. A CubeSat is a square-shaped version of a nano-satellite.
ZACube-2 was developed by F’SATI’s Satellite Programme and will be launched into space later this year.

F’SATI director Prof Robert van Zyl said ZACube-2 would now be shipped to The Netherlands where it would be integrated with other CubeSats. It would then make its way to India from where it will be launched.

The main payload on the satellite is an AIS (automatic identification system) receiver with which navigational data will be received from ships along our coast. This data, which includes the ships’ GPS coordinates, registration information, speed and direction of travel, will assist the authorities to track ship traffic in our exclusive economic zone and improve the safety of ships.

ZACube-2 will also carry an advanced camera, which will detect forest and veld fires.

Van Zyl said ZACube-2 serves as a precursor mission for two future satellite constellations - the one for Maritime Domain Awareness in support of Operation Phakisa and the other a FireSat constellation to track fire on the African continent.

The ZACube-2 mission is an initiative funded by the Department of Science and Technology, the South African National Space Agency, the National Research Foundation and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Our technology partners include the CSIR, Stone Three, Stellenbosch University (CubeSpace), Astrofica, Luvhone, Etse, Spaceteq and Clyde Space,

• Operation Phakisa is an initiative of the South African government aimed at implementing priority programmes better, faster and more effectively.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Four years after making history with the launch of Africa’s first nano-satellite into space, CPUT is preparing to reach even greater heights with the launch of its second CubeSat - ZACube-2.

ZACube-2 will be the most advanced South African CubeSat to date and is expected to launch in May or June from a launch site in India.

It was developed by the Satellite Programme of the CPUT French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI), which is based at the Bellville campus.

“ZACube-2 is a triple unit CubeSat so it is three times the size of its predecessor, which was called TshepisoSat,” says F’SATI director, Prof Robert van Zyl.

“It is currently being tested and qualified for space, which means it is being subjected to the extreme conditions it will be exposed to in the space environment.”

The main payload on the satellite is an AIS (automatic identification system) receiver with which navigational data will be received from ships along our coast. This data, which includes the ships’ GPS coordinates, registration information, speed and direction of travel, will assist the authorities to track ship traffic in our exclusive economic zone, and improve the safety of ships.
ZACube-2 will also carry an advanced camera, which will detect forest and velds fires.

ZACube-2 serves as a precursor mission for two future satellite constellations - the one for Maritime Domain Awareness in support of Operation Phakisa and the other a FireSat constellation to track fire on the African continent,” says Van Zyl.

The ZACube-2 mission is an initiative funded by the Department of Science and Technology, the South African National Space Agency, the National Research Foundation and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Our technology partners include the CSIR, Stone Three, Clyde Space, Stellenbosch University and Astrofica.

• Operation Phakisa is an initiative of the South African government, and is aimed at implementing priority programmes better, faster and more effectively.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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