SUNSAT

Last updated

The Stellenbosch UNiversity SATellite or SUNSAT (COSPAR 1999-008C) was the first miniaturized satellite designed and manufactured in South Africa. [1] It was launched aboard a Delta II rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on 23 February 1999 to become the first launched South African satellite. Sunsat was built by post-graduate engineering students at the University of Stellenbosch. Its AMSAT designation was SO-35 (Sunsat Oscar 35). [2]

Contents

Last contact by ground control with SUNSAT was on 19 January 2001 and on 1 February 2001 the end of SUNSAT's functional life in orbit was announced. The satellite operated in orbit for nearly 2 years. [3]

It is predicted to reenter the atmosphere after about 30 years from launch. [4]

Specifications

SUNSAT satellite specifications: [5]

Pushboom imager

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta (rocket family)</span> Rocket family

Delta is an American versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960. Japan also launched license-built derivatives from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 Delta rockets have been launched with a 95% success rate. Only the Delta IV Heavy rocket remains in use as of November 2020. Delta rockets have stopped being manufactured in favor of Vulcan.

AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) with headquarters at Washington, D.C. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate (command) satellites carrying amateur radio payloads, including the OSCAR series of satellites. Other informally affiliated national organizations exist, such as AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL) and AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT).

Delta III was an expendable launch vehicle made by McDonnell Douglas. The vehicle was developed from the highly-successful Delta II to help meet the launch demand of larger satellites. The first Delta III launch was on August 26, 1998. Of its three flights, the first two were failures, and the third, though declared successful, reached the low end of its targeted orbit range and carried only a dummy (inert) payload. The Delta III could deliver up to 3,810 kg (8,400 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit, twice the payload of its predecessor, the Delta II. Under the four-digit designation system from earlier Delta rockets, the Delta III is classified as the Delta 8930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ørsted (satellite)</span> Satellite

Ørsted is an Earth science satellite launched in 1999 to study the earth's geomagnetic field. It is Denmark's first satellite, named after Hans Christian Ørsted (1777–1851), a Danish physicist and professor at the University of Copenhagen, who discovered electromagnetism in 1820.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Launch Alliance</span> Joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing

United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that has manufactured and operated a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth and to other bodies in the Solar System and beyond. The company, which is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, was formed in December 2006. Launch customers of the United Launch Alliance include the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and other organizations.

Space launch vehicle Shtil', is a converted SLBM used for launching artificial satellites into orbit. It is based on the R-29RM designed by State Rocket Center Makeyev and related to the Volna Launch Vehicle. The Shtil' is a 3-stage launch vehicle that uses liquid propellant. It is the first launch vehicle to successfully launch a payload into orbit from a submarine, although launch from land based structures is possible as well.

SumbandilaSat, was a South African micro Earth observation satellite, launched on 17 September 2009 on a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The first part of the name, Sumbandila, is from the Venda language and means "lead the way".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ARGOS (satellite)</span>

The Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) was launched on 23 February 1999 carrying nine payloads for research and development missions by nine separate researchers. The mission terminated on 31 July 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMSAT-OSCAR 7</span>

AMSAT-OSCAR 7, or AO-7, is the second Phase 2 amateur radio satellite constructed by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation or AMSAT. It was launched into Low Earth Orbit on November 15, 1974 and remained operational until a battery failure in 1981. After 21 years of apparent silence, the satellite was heard again on June 21, 2002 – 27 years after launch. At that time the public learned that the satellite had remained intermittently functional and was used surreptitiously for communication by the anticommunist opposition Fighting Solidarity during martial law in Poland.

SSETI Express was the first spacecraft to be designed and built by European students and was launched by the European Space Agency. SSETI Express is a small spacecraft, similar in size and shape to a washing machine. On board the student-built spacecraft were three CubeSat picosatellites, extremely small satellites weighing around one kg each. These were deployed one hour and forty minutes after launch. Twenty-one university groups, working from locations spread across Europe and with very different cultural backgrounds, worked together via the internet to jointly create the satellite. The expected lifetime of the mission was planned to be 2 months. SSETI Express encountered an unusually fast mission development: less than 18 months from kick-off in January 2004 to flight-readiness.

The EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) is an adapter for launching secondary payloads on orbital launch vehicles.

M-Cubed is a miniaturized satellite built by students at the University of Michigan in a joint project run by the Michigan Exploration Laboratory (MXL) and JPL. It is an example of the popular CubeSat design for amateur satellites. It was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 28, 2011 atop a Delta II rocket. M-Cubed was launched as a secondary payload to the Suomi NPP satellite, along with AubieSat-1, DICE-1, DICE-2, Explorer-1 Prime, and RAX-2.

An amateur radio satellite is an artificial satellite built and used by amateur radio operators. It forms part of the Amateur-satellite service. These satellites use amateur radio frequency allocations to facilitate communication between amateur radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secondary payload</span> Launch of small spacecraft together with larger one

Secondary payload, also known as rideshare payload, is a smaller-sized payload transported to orbit on a launch vehicle that is mostly paid for—and with the date and time of launch and the orbital trajectory determined—by the entity that contracts and pays for the primary launch. As a result, the secondary payload typically obtains a substantially reduced price for transportation services to orbit, by accepting a trade off of the loss of control once the contract is signed and the payload is delivered to the launch vehicle supplier for integration to the launch vehicle. These tradeoffs typically include having little or no control over the launch date/time, the final orbital parameters, or the ability to halt the launch and remove the payload should a payload failure occur during ground processing prior to launch, as the primary payload typically purchases all of these launch property rights via contract with the launch services provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OSCAR 2</span> Amateur radio satellite

OSCAR II is the second amateur radio satellite launched by Project OSCAR into Low Earth orbit. OSCAR II was launched June 2, 1962, by a Thor-DM21 Agena B launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. The satellite, a rectangular box weighing 10 kg (22 lb), was launched as a secondary payload (ballast) for Corona 43, the fifth launch of a KH-4 satellite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dove-OSCAR 17</span>

Dove-OSCAR 17 is a Brazilian educational and amateur radio satellite (BRAMSAT) (AMSAT-BRAZIL) launched on 22 January 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ÑuSat</span> Series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites

ÑuSat satellite series, is a series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites. They form the Aleph-1 constellation, which is designed, built and operated by Satellogic.

Fox-1B, AO-91 or AMSAT OSCAR 91 is a United States amateur radio satellite. It is a 1U Cubesat, was built by the AMSAT-NA and carries a single-channel transponder for FM radio. The satellite has a whip antenna for the 70 cm and 23 cm bands (uplink), and a second antenna for the 2 m band (downlink). Fox-1B is the second amateur radio satellite of the Fox series of AMSAT North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEDSAT-1</span> American amateur radio satellite

SEDSAT-1 is a U.S. amateur radio satellite built by students and developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

References

  1. "South African Satellites". South African National Space Agency. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. "SUNSAT-OSCAR 35". amsat.org. Archived from the original on 24 December 2005.
  3. "The End of SUNSAT's Functional Life in Orbit". 1 February 2001. Archived from the original on 14 April 2005.
  4. 19. How long will SUNSAT stay operational?, SUNSAT(SO-35) FAQ
  5. "SUNSAT (Stellenbosch University Satellite)". eoportal.org. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  6. "Delta II 7920-10 (P91-1ARGOS), Ørsted and SUNSAT". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  7. Peat, Chris (5 December 2013). "SUNSAT - Orbit". Heavens Above. Retrieved 6 December 2013.