SA company to deploy a high resolution camera in the space

The South African Space Advisory Company (SAC) is about to deliver the hyper-spectral camera the highest resolution that can be integrated into a CubeSat

A CubeSat is a miniaturized satellite for space research of multiples of 10x10x10cm cubic units. CubeSats are typically put into orbit by International Space Station deployers, or launched as secondary payloads on a launcher. More than 800 CubeSats were launched in April 2018.

The innovations of the SAC intervene while SA continues its space program. This month, SA participated in the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, Austria

Last week, SAC celebrated the # 39th anniversary of the first image taken in Canada by Gecko Imager. Outer space at an altitude of 400 km

According to SAC, the imager always works perfectly from its satellite orbiting the Earth. He points out that this anniversary follows the provision of a crucial numerical control unit for a Dutch astronomy experience on the Chinese satellite Change & # 39; 4 orbiting the hidden face of the Moon [19659004] "Our next exciting step is producing the Cameleon Imager for the standard CubeSat 2U volume that will achieve a ground resolution of 10m over a 32km width from a distance of 500km" , says Duncan Stanton, CEO of SAC

.The camera in a box the size of two hands together with a weight of 1.35 kg that can recognize an object as small as a bus 500 km away .This camera is configured to store up to 160GB of on-board data in RGB, Multispectral or Hyperspectral Format, with a multitude of potential applications such as the activation of food safety programs across the crop monitoring and c Biombad lbadification, mining and prospecting, fire detection and infrastructure monitoring.

AGER is a highly capable and configurable system, hence the name, which draws its heritage from the proven Gecko Imager in the space plus the hardware developed by us for the Holland Frequency Explorer. -China currently aboard the satellite Change & # 39; 4 orbiting the low gravitation second point Earth-Moon Lagrange (EM L2) from 60 to 80 000 kilometers beyond the Moon. "1965 Stanton

The Gecko Imager won an award for innovation at the Da Vinci Top Technology Awards in 2017. The company's first space hyperspectrometer imager, originally developed with the support of the I & # 39; Aerospace Industry Support Initiative, was delivered to SCS-Space by SAC in 2017 to be tested and calibrated in a recently commissioned facility by SCS-Space.

"SCS-Space has added one last crucial link in the chain, which means that the essential facilities required for design, development, integration and testing are available within the SCS Aerospace group", says Daniel van Niekerk, COO of Space Advisory Company. "The key critical components, supply chain, and local facilities in South Africa allow us to provide advanced technology, such as the hyper-spectral Chameleon imager, to the local and international market."

also states that the environmental constraints imposed on internally designed systems ensure that they will survive the severe effects of vacuum, radiation, heat and vibration encountered on the road and in the future. on modularity, quality, high performance and volume-constrained systems, its products are also adapted to opportunities closer to Earth on high-altitude aerial platforms such as drones. is required, he adds.