A nanosatellite developed by Stellenbosch University (SU) and CubeSpace, a somerset West-based Innovus incubation company in the Nedbank SU Launch Lab business incubator, will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) within the next two weeks.
The satellite will be launched to the space station inside a Cygnus capsule, containing resupplies for the astronauts on the ISS.
The launch can be watched live at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
Visit the CubeSpace Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SpaceADCS for updates as to when the launch will occur.
The South African nanosatellite, ZA-AeroSat, weighs in at only 2kg and forms part of an international project, the QB50 project, to launch 36 nanosatellites known as “CubeSats” into space.
These CubeSats are each about 10cm by 10 cm by 20cm – smaller than a shoebox – and will be used to gather scientific measurements from the lower thermosphere between 200km and 400km above Earth.
ZA-AeroSat was delivered to an AeroSpace company in Delft, the Netherlands, where it was packed, together with other satellites before being shipped to NASA in the USA.
The satellites, now packed in a Cygnus capsule, have been integrated into an Atlas-V rocket, that is currently scheduled for launch.
The satellites will be received by the astronauts on board the ISS, and will be released into space about a month later.
High resolution pictures and videos of the satellites being released from the space station will be made available after the launch.
For more information about ZA-AeroSat and the launch, contact Mike-Alec Kearney on 021 808 9499, 084 941 1577, or mike@cubespace.co.za
