Johannesburg, Sep 10 (Inditop.com) South Africa will launch the SumbandilaSat satellite into space Sep 15 on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan, BuaNews reported.
Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor will travel to Kazakhstan this week to observe the lift-off. SumbandilaSat is designed and built in South Africa.
The 80-kg satellite has a primary payload consisting of a remote sensing camera and a secondary payload consisting of a fixed vibration string experiment.
Orbiting at a height of 500 km, SumbandilaSat will collect data for use in the management of natural disasters like floods, fires and oil spills in southern Africa, the technology and science department said Tuesday.
It will also be able to measure temperatures at sea and land, clouds, rainfall, winds, sea levels, ice cover, vegetation and gases.
SumbandilaSat will be South Africa’s second satellite, after the launch of SunSat 1, built by the students and faculty of Stellenbosch University in 1999.
