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]

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]

• Size: 45 x 45 x 60 cm
• Mass: 64 kg
• Launcher: Delta II rocket, Mission P-91^[6]
• Program cost: US $5M (Approximate); the launch was free of charge as SUNSAT was orbited as a secondary payload. The primary payload of the launch was ARGOS, and the Danish Orsted satellite was another secondary payload.
• Planned lifetime: 4–5 years (NiCad Battery pack life)
• Main payloads:
  • Amateur radio communications
  • Data interchange
  • Stereo multispectral imager
• Attitude control: Gravity gradient and magnetorquers, reaction wheels when imaging
• Accuracy: 3 mrad pitch/roll, 6 mrad yaw
• 2 Micro Particle Impact Detectors were included as part of experiments conducted in orbit
  • A team (Zaahied Cassim and Rashid Mohamed) from Peninsula Technikon designed and built circuits for both their own piezo film technology and NASA supplied capacitive sensors.
• SSC 25636^[7]

Pushboom imager

• Ground pixel size: 15 m x 15 m
• Image width: 51.8 km