 |
| About the competition |
This competition is now closed and the winners have been announced!
Name of new South African satellite announced
SumbandilaSAT is the name of South Africa’s new low earth orbiting satellite that will be launched into space from a submarine in Russia early in 2007.
Meaning ‘Show the way’ in Tshivenda, SumbandileSAT was the choice of Beki Boneni (grade 12) of Isilimela High School in Langa, Cape Town; Siyanda Ngidi (grade 9) of Brettonwood High in Durban; and Ofentse Khutwane (grade 7) of Laerskool Rachel de Beer in Pretoria.
 |
Winners: Ofentse Khutwane of Pretoria, Beki Boneni of Cape Town and Siyanda Ngidi of Durban. |
The winning name was among the more than 3 000 entries received in a national competition launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and managed by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) earlier this year. The competition called on all learners from grade 7 to 12 to become part of South Africa’s space programme by giving the micro satellite a truly African name.
The purpose of the competition was to create awareness of the microsatellite and give learners an opportunity to contribute to the space science and technology programme.
Prizes
The winners each received a personal computer from the Science and Technology Minister, Mosibudi Mangena in July. As part of their prize two of them visited the satellite construction site at Houwteq near Grabouw, while Boneni attended a space camp, organised by the SA Astronomical Observatory, during the September holidays.
The project
Currently being built, this satellite is part of a multimillion Rand integrated national space programme developed by the Department of Science and Technology. The programme will provide South Africa affordable access to space technology as well as useful data. It will demonstrate that high resolution remote sensing can be done with a satellite as small as this – a mass of approximately 80kg, about 1,8 metres long and rotating about 500 km from the earth.
Why a satellite?
The satellite will serve as a research tool to support, for example, the monitoring and managing of disasters like the extent of floods, oil spills and fires. Satellites such as the French SPOT satellite were, for example, used to capture the image of the fires that swept through the Cape peninsula earlier this year.
Satellite data via the Internet already plays a vital role in agriculture and water resource management, particularly in South Africa’s arid conditions. Satellites are also monitoring almost all aspects of the world’s climate system. This includes measuring the temperature of the sea and land, clouds and rainfall, winds, sea level, ice cover, vegetation cover and gases.
With major urbanisation taking place rapidly, cities seem to be growing fast in an uncontrolled way. By using satellite images, town planners can help prevent problems like traffic congestion, illegal building and too few recreational sites.
Satellites are extremely important for various applications including telecommunications and broadcasting. They assist people in understanding the earth system to improve human health, safety and welfare, to protect the environment, to reduce disaster losses and to achieve sustainable development.
DST, the University of Stellenbosch, SunSpace and Information Systems and the CSIR Satellite Application Centre have joined forces in this venture.
The university manages the project, trains postgraduate students and does research on satellite engineering and software development. Postgraduate students will be trained at masters and doctoral levels in satellite related engineering, software engineering, geography and agriculture remote sensing over the next four years. SunSpace is building the satellite and the CSIR Satellite Application Centre will be responsible for operating, tracking and monitoring it.
As space assets, like satellites, are no longer a matter of prestige for any country but have become essential tools, the department sees this as the beginning of a long-term space programme. This project forms an integral part of South Africa’s continued activities in the global programme called the Group on Earth Observation.
Celebrate South Africa's space programme . . . and our new micro satellite!
|
