Detailed Description
Sunsat was a micro-satellite built by post-graduate engineering students in the Electronic Systems Laboratory, in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch. It was launched in 1999 on a Delta II Launch Vehicle. Payloads included NASA experiments, Radio Amateur communications, a high resolution imager, precision attitude control, and school experiments. SUNSAT was launched on the 11th attempt at 10h29:45 GMT on 23 February 1999.
Sunsat was operational for almost two years, until late February 2001, when contact from the ground station for the last time.
The project was so successful that numerous subsystems was sold to satellite programs in South Korea, Germany and Australia. This prompted the creation of SunSpace Information Systems, a spinoff company that now develops and manufactures satellites, and satellite subsystems commercially.
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