WATCH: SA’s first agriculture-focused microsatellite launched into orbit

The first imaging satellite to be built by South African company Dragonfly Aerospace has been launched into orbit to help agricultural users adjust to climate change and reach sustainability in their practices.

Launch

The EOS SAT-1 (AgriSat-1/ ZA-008) satellite was launched on 3 January by South African born Elon Musk’s US aerospace company SpaceX at Cape Canaveral, Florida, as part of the Transporter-6 mission. 

#ZASpaceScience SA company Dragonfly Aerospace launched a microsatellite on @falcon9_spacex Transporter 6 mission yesterday. The local microsatellite is world’s 1st agriculture-focused satellite. It comes almost a year after @dsigovza launched 3 cubesats on @falcon9_spacex. https://t.co/ir1PdNnx55

— Taslima (@Dsttviljoen) January 4, 2023

The launch of the 170kg microsatellite follows last year’s successful launch of three locally produced nanosatellites by the Department of Science and Innovation and its partners. 

The Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite constellation (MDASat-1) was launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-3 mission and marked the first launch of a satellite constellation developed entirely on the African continent.

Capabilities

Equipped with two dragoneye electro-optical imagers, EOS SAT-1 will provide 44km swath panchromatic and multispectral imagery across 11 spectral bands – making it one of the most capable imaging satellites in lower Earth observation.

Congratulating Dragonfly Aerospace, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande said the EOS SAT-1 launch is a proud moment for the country.

“This will further cement South Africa’s position as an African leader in small-to-medium satellite development, and help the country to capture a valuable share of a niche market in the fast-growing global satellite value chain.”

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Data

“In 2009, the department launched the SumbandilaSat, a technology demonstrator, in partnership with the South African industry. SumbandilaSat was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, with monitoring and satellite support from the South African National Space Agency Space Operations facility in Hartebeesthoek,” said Nzimande.

Images obtained from Dragonfly’s EOS SAT-1 will deliver valuable information for applications such as harvest monitoring, seasonal planning and assessments that analyse information such as soil moisture, yield prediction and biomass levels. 

This data will support growers with reducing carbon dioxide emissions and help them to develop sustainable agricultural methods.

The information will also have important environmental benefits for the planet and will maintain biodiversity and help prevent natural habitats from being diminished for crop growth.

Training programme  

Nzimande added that the SumbandilaSat initiative also demonstrated South Africa’s satellite build capability and facilitated human capital development. 

“The programme allowed for the training of nine new black trainee engineers (four of whom were female) and broadened the experience of 78 other engineers.”

The Sumbandila programme produced 18 Master’s and two PhD students in engineering at Stellenbosch University.

More satellites

The EOS SAT-1 satellite is the first of a seven-satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit for customer EOS Data Analytics. 

The remaining six satellites of the constellation will be deployed over the next three years.

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