#kuband

Star One C1 65.0°W KU Band Satellite Frequency List

On the speech of South Africa's Minister of Science and technology, Naledi Pandor MP, at the opening of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) on Cape Town, October 3, 2011, she pointed out three core points on their country's technological developments for the benefit of the whole Africa. The first one among these objectives is "to capture a South African share of the global market for small to medium-sized space systems" on their intention of widening their investment in “micro”satellites, building on the existing SumbandilaSAT platform. The SumbandilaSAT satellite was planned and made in South Africa for the DST by SunSpace, a company from Stellenbosch University which secured orders from international clients for satellites and subsystems, and has also demonstrated that it can train engineers in other emerging space nations.  Aside from the said university, other South African universities are also providing training in space science and technology to students from elsewhere in Africa. "In the field of satellite development, South Africa possesses some space facilities that are unique in Africa. These include a satellite assembly, test and integration facility, situated not far from here in Grabouw, and a launch facility situated at Arniston," said the Minister. The satellite integration facility stated is planned to be incorporated into the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), their newly established space agency. Their country is ready to collaborate with other African space-faring nations and to offer its experiences and facilities to those African countries that wish to develop their indigenous space capabilities. The second point discussed is "to improve decision making through the integration of space-based systems with ground-based systems for providing data" as their Space Strategy complements their national Earth Observation Strategy (2007) which coordinates all the earth observation activities of the government, science councils and academic institutions. Both of them serve a number of different government departments and help them to fulfill their respective mandates through the provision of timely and relevant data. "As you know, satellites don’t stop at national boundaries, and they can be used by multiple states in cooperation to address issues of trans-frontier or regional interest. This is the inspiration for the African Resource Management (ARM) Constellation of satellites," said Pandor. The basic idea of the ARM concept, led by Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, is that a number of African countries contribute one satellite each to the constellation, accessing data from all the other satellites as well.  Lastly, the third objective is "to develop applications for the provision of geospatial, telecommunications, timing and positioning products and services where they will be working to develop their capabilities in earth observation, communication and position, timing, and navigation." It is particularly important because clearly space science plays a huge role in the process of understanding climate change, its causes and consequences.  All in all, the South African National Space Agency is ready to undertake long-term planning and implementation of space-related activities in South Africa.