SumbandilaSat (Oscar SO-67)

Spacecraft n°:

South African spacecraft n°: 2

Launch data: Designation  35870 / 09049F Launch date  17 Sep 2009 - 15:55 UT Launch site  B, LC-31/6 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1b / Fregat Mission  Government/Civil: Remote Sensing / Techn Sun-Synchronous LEO Earth orbit on: Perigee / Apogee  490 x 505 km Eccentricity  1.09E-03 Inclination  97.37 deg Period  94.56 min

Mission details:

• The University of Stellenbosch, SunSpace and the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) were key players in constructing SumbandilaSat. The CSIR′s Satellite Application Centre (CSIR-SAC) was responsible for operations, telemetry, tracking, control as well as data capturing.
• SumbandilaSat is part of a closely integrated South African space programme and will serve as a research tool to investigate the viability of affordable space technology. Furthermore, the data will be used to, amongst others, monitor and manage disasters such as flooding, oil spills and fires within Southern Africa.

Mission details:

• Technology development for South Africa, both bus and payload. Data will be used for agriculture monitoring, infrastructure mapping, disaster response, population measurement, and water management.
• Fregat then made two further burns at about 17:46 and 18:35 UTC to descend to 490 x 504 km where it deployed Sumbandila, a South African imaging satellite, and deployed the Lavochkin/Astrium IRIS experment, two rigidizing masts carrying dummy solar arrays, in a test of inflatable structure technology. The Fregat was expected to make a final burn to deorbit itself on Sep 18, but was still in a 491 x 503 km orbit as of Sep 23.
• In June 2011 the satellite was damaged during a solar storm. The damage caused the on-board computer and the camera to stop functioning. This has caused it to stop fulfilling its primary objective and has been written off as a loss by SunSpace, its builder