The innovative use of space technology by a Cape Town-based space engineering company is currently on display at the biannual Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) expo held in Pretoria this week.
SCS Aerospace Group, South Africa’s biggest private satellite concern, is showcasing a number of new home-grown satellite products at AAD which runs until the end of this week. The products includes the new lightweight high-performance satellite, the SCS150, designed for global environmental and infrastructure monitoring as well as a mission overview of a privately funded technology demonstration satellite destined to do various scientific experiments and test some of their new advanced electronics in space.
“We will be testing the technology of our newly developed SCS Gecko, an ultra-compact imager specially developed for the small satellite market plus do some radiation tests on reprogrammable electronics on South Africa’s first privately funded small satellite due for an early 2017 launch,” said Dr. Sias Mostert, Chairman of SCS Aerospace Group.
“The satellite will also do a number of important experiments as part of a contribution to the QB50 international science mission. This includes measuring atomic oxygen flux in Earth’s lower atmosphere which is a crucial parameter in the correlation and validation of atmospheric models.
“The radiation experiments are done in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to test radiation hardening of reprogrammable electronics in space using proprietary and patented IP developed by them,” says Dr. Mostert.
The company also seems particularly pleased with their other innovation, the SCS150, capable of providing 0.9 m resolution persistent video and 3.6 m resolution multispectral imaging. Its unique configuration makes it possible to be launched as part of a multi-satellite constellation that can be launched into orbit on a single small to medium class launch vehicle. It was developed to form part of a set of Earth observation satellites that can provide near-continuous coverage applied in disaster management, city planning, border monitoring, maritime assets and infrastructure monitoring.
After the current AAD expo the company products will go on display at the International Astronautical Congress in Gaudalajara, Mexico from 26 to 30 September as part of their mission to expand their presence in the global small satellite market. For more information on the SCS Aerospace Group, please visit www.scshgroup.com.
For more information contact
Lecia Chidrawi
SCS Aerospace Group Marketing Manager
www.scshgroup.com
E: info@scshgroup.com
T: +27 21 300 0060
F: +27 21 300 0064
