ZIMSAT-2 (AMAISAT)

By ZINGSA SPACE ENGINEERING | 1 November 2024 | 0 Comments | ZIMSAT-1

BACKGROUND

ZIMSAT-2 (AMAISAT) is the second satellite for Zimbabwe which was designed and manufactured through collaborative research programme between ZINGSA and South West State University (SWSU). ZINGSA engineers and students on Presidential scholarships participated collaboratively to develop the satellite from the mission design to the flight model. The satellite is scheduled to be launched from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Amur Oblast, Russia.

ZIMSAT-2 MISSION

The main payload is a multispectral camera with a spatial resolution of 8 meters. This camera supports missions in...

Agriculture Applications

Data collected from this mission will be useful in the investigation and monitoring of crop health, yields prediction, detection of plants nutrient deficiencies, classifying vegetation types and calculation of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

Geological Studies

Identification and classification of potential mineral areas...

Urban Mapping

Detailed mapping of buildings, roads, vegetation, dams ,lakes and other urban features

Climate Change Monitoring

Monitoring the Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI),which is the difference between the amount of energy the earth receives from the sun and the amount it loses to space.

Technical Details	Specifications
Platform class	CubeSat 3U
Overall dimensions	300x100x100 mm
Dry mass	2.5 kg
Launch mass (with POD)	7.25 kg
Mission	Earth Remote Sensing
Design lifetime	5 years
Orbit altitude	550 km
GSD (spatial resolution)	8 mpix
Swath	2500 km
Spectral resolution	5 mpix
Temporal resolution (Revisit time)	10 min
Onboard data storage capacity	64 gb
Mean power supply capability	24 Watt

GROUND STATION AND GROUND SENSOR TERMINALS

The satellite does not work as a stand-alone system, ZINGSA has set up a ground control station at Mazowe Earth Station for commanding and controlling of ZIMSAT-1 satellite. However, the existing ground station has frequency band limitations to be compatible with ZIMSAT-2 hence there was need for an upgrade in collaboration with SWSU. Through this collaboration Mazowe Ground Station will be fully upgraded by 20 November 2024 to a commercial grade level, capable to receive L, S, X-Band, and U/VHF.