SU staff, students co-develop Africa2Moon’s (B.A.L.L.S.) antennas
By Engela Duvenage
When the Chang’e-8, a Chinese robotic lunar mission, is launched in 2029, its trajectory to the Moon’s south pole will be watched closely by a handful of Stellenbosch University’s (SU’s) current postgraduate electrical and electronic engineering students, as well as researchers of the University’s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ESL).
They will do so with pride, knowing that they provided the initial impetus for the design of the electronics eventually used to get one of the rocket’s international payloads to the far side of the Moon.
This payload (typically the cargo, scientific instruments, or experiments aboard a spacecraft or launch vehicle that involve collaboration between different countries) includes a set of South African-designed composite spheres containing low-frequency radio telescope antennas and electronics.
The research opportunity came about through the group’s involvement in Africa2Moon, the first all-African space exploration mission. This South African-led endeavour aims to deploy the world’s first radio telescope array on the Moon.
It was chosen by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) in April 2025 as one of Chang’e-8’s 11 international payloads, under its International Lunar Research Station framework. The hope is to establish a robotic moon base that could be visited by astronauts.
The Africa2Moon mission is led by the Foundation for Space Development Africa, in collaboration with organisations such as the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and the South African National Space Agency, local firms working in the space sector, and institutions such as SU, Rhodes University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Keeping many balls in the air
If all goes according to plan, three Africa2Moon Bounced African Low Lunar Spheres (B.A.L.L.S.) antennas will be deployed in 2029 as the project’s technology demonstrator, showing that it is possible to do radio astronomy in the sub-20 MHz frequency range on the lunar surface.
“Doing so will enable scientists to study a bandwidth of radio wave information, collected from outer space, that is largely undetectable from Earth. In the process, it could help to unlock even more discoveries about the Universe,” explains Africa2Moon mission director Dr Carla Mitchell who is also the SARAO Africa programme manager for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Africa radio astronomy project.
“The Africa2Moon mission’s ultimate goal is to eventually have 55 B.A.L.L.S. antennas – one for each African nation – operating from the lunar surface,” she adds.
According to Mitchell, phase three of the Africa2Moon mission is nearing completion. The necessary structural, electronic and mechanical parts of the B.A.L.L.S. design have been developed and tested, and the sections assembled. Phase four will see a technology demonstrator being sent to China by mid-2026 for thorough assessment by the CNSA. The purpose is to ensure that the South African payload integrates well with the lunar lander, and can withstand typical launch and space conditions. Once the go-ahead is received, a flight model will be built using space-grade equipment.
SU’s initial involvement
The Africa2Moon project was called “Africa’s boldest space mission yet” in a recent segment on the actuality television programme Carte Blanche.
The ESL team in Stellenbosch first received a taste of the project early last year when senior lecturer Dr Arno Barnard and ESL manager Prof Willem Jordaan were asked by the Africa2Moon project leaders to provide independent input on the control elements and other electronics of the design that their team was proposing as potential payloads.
“Control is our strong point. As long as a product moves and needs to be controlled, we’re there to help, whether it is in space, on or under the ground, or under water. Along with the necessary hardware, we develop ways to help a product ‘see’ and ‘understand’ where it is, and how to get from Point A to Point B,” Barnard summarises the ESL’s field of expertise.
Mitchell has been pushing the Africa2Moon project forward for over a decade with help from volunteers and collaborators. She admits, however, that the full reality of what needs to be done to get South Africa to the Moon only really dawned on her when, in Shanghai in April 2025, the project received the all-important green light as a chosen payload, and work on a test model had to start.
Impressed by the initial guidance given by the ESL team during the Africa2Moon review process, Mitchell turned to Barnard and Jordaan for practical help in building the electrical demonstration model needed for the antennas and various systems to work together, as well as integrate and communicate with the lander.
For the SU engineers, it was an opportunity not to be missed, as it allowed them to extend their network, while staying true to their core responsibilities of providing excellence in research and training.
According to the Africa2Moon website, the demo model is “crucial for ensuring the project is both scientifically effective and technically sound”, and for providing its partners “with a clear vision of how the mission will operate”.
SARAO engineers Thomas Kusel and Japie Ludick, along with team members Thabang Maretela and Severin Azankpo, are responsible for the structural model of the B.A.L.L.S. They are working alongside researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) to demonstrate how the antennas and various systems will work together.
ASRI’s work is being led by a Maties alumnus, associate Prof Jean Pitot, who completed his PhD in mechanical engineering at SU. He also co-leads a space propulsion programme for sub-orbital sounding rockets and orbital liquid rocket engine technology, funded by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation and set to redevelop South Africa’s rocket launching capabilities – an endeavour that ESL is also a part of.
Students help tackle project
When the opportunity presented itself, four SU MEng students – Nortier Geyer, Michael Esterhuyse, Russouw Grobbelaar and Danie Gouws – put up their hands to be part of the extracurricular Africa2Moon project.
All four admit that they had not even remotely considered space engineering and design when they started off as first-year students at SU in the early 2020s. After being inspired by their undergraduate courses and lecturers, Geyer, Esterhuyse and Grobbelaar chose to do satellite-related MEng projects under Barnard and Jordaan. Gouws is working on legged robots, with control systems specialist Prof Japie Engelbrecht as supervisor.
Despite a tight deadline and their own academic commitments, these students managed to present the necessary electronic and communication systems to the Africa2Moon team in March 2026.
Barnard explains: “We could deliver on time largely because we tapped into our long-standing expertise in satellite systems and related designs, and because the design specifications we had suggested during the mission’s review process in early 2025 had been accepted. These specifications included the use of off-the-shelf hardware that we are very familiar with and often use in projects related to drones, underground mining, robotics, satellites, CubeSats, PicoSats and the like.”
Jordaan points out that SU has an established track record in the design and engineering of aviation electronics, and components for diverse satellite applications.
“The Africa2Moon mission presents technical challenges unique to the lunar environment. It serves as a great opportunity to test some of our current technologies and to develop new dedicated components for this mission,” he adds.
This SU alumnus has been working on satellites since his postgraduate year. He received his PhD degree in 2015\. He has since mentored students on control systems that adjust according to the environment or the status of satellites and other autonomous vehicles.
Jordaan adds: “The Africa2Moon project offers exceptional exposure, allowing students to engage in a team, and be part of a very unique mission. We are very excited and remain committed to the future milestones of this project.”
Extension of the ESL’s work
According to Barnard, SU’s participation in the Africa2Moon project is a natural extension of the ESL’s involvement in South African and international space technology development over the past 35 years. The research unit was established in 1991 as the development facility of South Africa’s very first operational space satellite programme, SUNSAT. The programme’s 60kg satellite was operated for two years from a ground station within the ESL.
Barnard’s own career in space science was sparked by its launch in 1999. “In my final year as an undergraduate student, I watched its launch in the auditorium of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. I decided then and there to work with satellites. For my final year project, I developed a fail-safe power converter for a microsatellite,” he remembers.
During his own MEng study, Barnard’s focus shifted to digital electronics in order to test the feasibility of a new-generation processor as an on-board computer for a microsatellite.
After joining the ESL as manager in 2003, Barnard became involved in research projects related to SumbandilaSat, sumbandila’ meaning ‘pathfinder’ in Venda. This microsatellite was designed and built jointly by the spin-out company Sun Space and Information Systems and the ESL.
For the purposes of his doctorate, Barnard developed a viable, reliable proton-induced test method and environment for space-related radiation testing at nearby [iThemba Laboratories for Accelerator-based Science iThemba LABS.
Barnard recognises the excitement and dreams that have kept the small Africa2Moon team going, despite many stops and starts to the mission. It is a feeling he hopes was instilled in the group of postgraduate students through their involvement in the real-world Africa2Moon project.
“In a radius of 20km around Stellenbosch, there are more than 10 space technology companies doing world-class work. Many of them were either started by SU alumni or employ some of our former students. In fact, we cannot keep up with the demand for our highly qualified engineers,” he adds.
Taking control, the ESL way
“Eight academics and more than 40 postgraduate students are currently part of the endeavours of the Electronic Systems Laboratory ESL in SU’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Together, they conduct research primarily related to the control and automation of aerospace and terrestrial vehicles.
The ESL, with its focus on computer and control systems, is rooted in South Africa’s very first operational space satellite programme, SUNSAT. The laboratory was established in 1991 as SUNSAT’s development facility, with Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel, the later dean of the Faculty of Engineering and vice-rector of teaching at SU, and the late Prof Garth Milne at the helm to take academic experimentation to a commercial scale.
After its successful launch into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in the USA in 1999, the 60kg SUNSAT was operated from a ground station within the ESL for two years, well past its intended design lifetime.
In 2000, this led to the establishment of a private spin-out company, Sun Space and Information Systems (SunSpace), which was involved in developing especially smaller Earth-observation satellites on a commercial scale. Since then, many newer private firms have established a firm footprint in the local and international space industries.
A decade later, SunSpace and the ESL, through SU, were contracted by the South African National Space Agency and the then South African Department of Science and Technology to build the SumbandilaSat satellite.
“SunSpace built the final flight model sent into space. At ESL, we did research towards a whole new generation of electronics, as there were many technological advances that we could tap into a decade after SUNSAT was launched,” Dr Arno Barnard of the ESL remembers. The SumbandilaSat microsatellite used in Earth observation was launched in 2009. It was made both possible and affordable through low-cost design, smaller satellite buses, and modern commercial off-the-shelf technology – a mantra still being followed at ESL today. The SumbandilaSat satellite ceased primary operations after a solar-storm-induced failure in 2011, and de-orbited in 2021.
Through SUNSAT and SumbandilaSat alone, more than 100 MEng and PhD students completed their degrees by working on research projects in systems engineering, electronics, software, imaging, attitude control and ground-station operations.
Satellite-related work continues at ESL. Much of what was learned about control systems through South Africa’s satellite programmes has, over the last 20 years, helped to accelerate the laboratory’s in-house research into autonomous legged robotics, autonomous survey vessels, mining applications for search and rescue efforts, communication nodes, and autonomous racing cars. Its work on drones now entails developing models that can clean rooftop solar panels or the windows of high-rise buildings, and others that can function both in the air and under water.
In terms of commercial work, the ESL is also involved in developing advanced vehicle demonstrators and other projects for industry partners.
Africa2Moon scientific advisor Dr Adriana Marais (left) and mission director Dr Carla Mitchell, shortly after the announcement on 24 April 2025 that the Africa2Moon technology demonstrator had been selected as a payload on the Chang’e-8 mission to the Moon. The announcement was made by the CNSA during the inaugural ceremony of China Space Day in Shanghai.
Mission director Dr Carla Mitchell and SARAO engineer Japie Ludick with one of the spheres that underwent the necessary vibration testing. | Photo: Africa2Moon
The electronics functional model built by the SU team. During the testing phase, the test model sent data between the B.A.L.L.S. model (left) and a mock lander unit (right). | Photo: Africa2Moon
More about Chang’e-8’s mission
The Change’e-8 is a robotic lunar mission of the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) and forms part of the country’s Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme. It is scheduled to launch in 2029, and will land near the Moon’s south pole region to lay the technical and experimental groundwork for the future International Lunar Research Station. The Chang’e-8 payload will consist of a lander, a rover and a robot to conduct experiments on the Moon.
After landing, the plan is to have the lander release a robotic deployment system that will transfer the rover and the operation robot to the designated area on the lunar surface. The rover will then conduct roving exploration and carry out technical tests and experiments with the assistance of the operation robot.
Apart from South Africa’s contribution, other international projects that will be taken to the Moon as part of a 200kg combined payload will include a lunar rover developed by Pakistan, a laser corner reflector array from Italy, a neutron analyser from Thailand, and microrovers jointly developed in Turkey and China.