Sumbandilasat—An operational technology demonstrator

Technology advances in sensor, digital technology and a standardised modular satellite bus are enabling a new generation of 80 kg micro-satellites with a better than 6.5 m GSD multi-spectral performance, to be specified, built and deployed with a dedicated launch within 12 months. The result of the standardised modular bus is lower cost, higher reliability and fast deployment. Operational remote sensing with a micro-satellite is thus within reach of individual organisations for dedicated missions. Sumbandilasat (pioneer in the Venda language) is a second generation satellite technology building on the expertise obtained in the Sunsat small satellite programme. The components used to build Sumbandilasat are the result of a technology development program of more than 3 years. Sumbandilasat is an operational technology demonstrator with more than 90% newly developed or improved subsystems and a compact refractive imager as a precursor to the MSMISat satellite with the same multi-spectral band set. The scalable, standardised modular satellite bus architecture enables satellites with a mass of 80–450 kg to be adapted to the specific mission requirements with minimum new engineering effort.     

Outreach activities during the 2006 total solar eclipse sponsored by the International Heliophysical Year

The International Heliophysical Year (IHY) is an international program of scientific research to advance our understanding of the physical processes that govern the Sun, Earth and heliosphere. It has a strong educational component, linking research and education. Here, we describe the outreach activities during the 2006 total solar eclipse sponsored by IHY.     

Building capacity in the basic space sciences in Southern Africa: Experiences and prospects

The basic space sciences and their supporting technologies underpin the ability of a country to utilise space applications programmes for development. By whatever measure is employed, Africa is under-represented in the international space science community. This paper reviews lessons learnt over the past 8 years with regard to sustainable capacity building in the region. At present there are a number of role-players in the space arena engaged in various capacity-building initiatives. We advocate that the emphasis of these initiatives should shift from fairly isolated capacity-building activities to comprehensive regional capacity-building programmes developed jointly by the different role-players. In order to develop such coordinated programmes, the establishment of a capacity-building forum involving the space community, the development sector and the developing countries in a region, is proposed.