The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has reported that South Africa is considering constructing a 250 kg to 400 kg Earth observation satellite, as the country’s contribution to the proposed African Resource and Environmental Management satellite constellation (ARMC). This was revealed on Monday in a written answer to a Parliamentary question.
“This would entail a satellite development programme of four and [a] half years, building on the experience of the subsystems developed for the Sumbandilasat mission,” stated the DST in its answer. “The full programme costs for such a satellite would be R450-million and will be sourced from the national fiscus.”
“Government, through the DST and its agency, the South African National Space Agency (Sansa), will take the lead in managing South Africa’s interest in the ARMC,” affirmed the DST. The proposed new satellite would operate from a low Earth orbit and would have a planned lifespan of seven years.
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