South Africa's first commercial satellite, SumbandilaSat, has a severe case of sunburn.The scientists say the radiation damage from the sun is to be expected.
The damage to the satellite is thought to be at least partly due to heightened sunburst activity, which is known to affect electronic equipment, said Ron Olivier, of Sunspace, the company that helped develop the satellite together with Stellenbosch University.
Despite the setback - the extent of which engineers are still trying to assess - the micro earth-observation satellite is still beaming back images to a control centre near Pretoria.
The 82kg home-made piece of space technology, the size of an average bar fridge, was launched on a Russian rocket in September.
"New electronics are always going to be susceptible to radiation and other factors up there. But I think everybody is happy with what it has done up to now.
"Some of the heightened sun activity is a phase thing and there is not much you can do about it. You are very lucky to survive it. We have been through a bit of a period like that, albeit a very short period. Most of the electronics work as specified," Olivier said.
The R25-million SumbandilaSat, which orbits the earth at a height of just under 500km, is powerful enough to track vessels at sea, monitor air quality and track elusive leopards in the Cape.
Four cameras on the satellite provide unique images of South Africa, for private and government use, and include infra-red images of irrigation patterns and vegetation cover, and high-resolution pictures that can be used to monitor water quality, urban expansion and forests.
The images enable researchers to see through the earth's surface to survey abandoned mines.
The satellite carries sophisticated radio communication devices sensitive enough to pick up faint signals from Earth - such as those emitted by the radio collars attached to leopards roaming the Cape's Cederberg mountains.
Gladys Magagula, the government spokesman for the national satellite programme, said technological problems were normal for pathfinder satellites.
"These components are prone to radiation damage in low Earth orbit, where the satellite is not protected by Earth's magnetic field and charged particles from various sources - including the sun - impact on the satellite," she said.
"Damage caused by low-energy particles are usually temporary, but high-energy particles can cause permanent damage.
I was a vegetarian until I started leaning towards sunlight.--Rita Rudner, U.S. comedienne
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