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Cape Town – Stellenbosch University and CubeSpace are expected to launch a nanosatellite to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.
The nanosatellite will be launched from the US on Monday, or Tuesday.
ZA-AeroSat weighs only 2kg and will be launched by rocket to provide the ISS with supplies, the university said in a statement on Friday.
The nanosatellite is a part of a larger project to launch 36 nanosatellites known as “CubeSats” into space.
They are smaller than a shoebox, measuring at 10cm x 10cm x 20cm, and will be used to gather scientific measurements from the lower thermosphere, between 200km and 400km above Earth, the university said.
ZA-AeroSat was transported to the Netherlands where it was packed together with other satellites before being shipped to NASA in the US.
Astronauts on board the ISS will receive the nanosatellites and release them into space about a month later.
