South Africa

• Overberg. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Location: Arniston, Waenhuiskrans, Western Cape. Latitude: 34°35' S. Longitude: 20°19' E.

• Darter. - air-to-air missile - First revealed in 1988. The original V-3B Kukri version was similar to the French Magic. A lightened version, Darter U, entered production in 1994. Darter A was a version of Darter U with a greater look-angle and an imaging infra-red seeker,.

• RSA-1. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. It is conjectured that this designation was assigned to an intermediate range single-stage ballistic missile consisting of the first stage of the RSA-3. Purported mission was to strike Cuban military concentrations from mobile launchers on South African territory. The rocket motor closely followed the design of the Israeli Jericho-2 first stage.

• RSA-2. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. It is conjectured that this designation was assigned to an intermediate range ballistic missile consisting of the first and second stages of the RSA-3. Probably very similar to, or a licensed copy of the Israeli Jericho-2 missile. A third stage apogee kick motor was added to produce the RSA-3 space launcher.

• RSA-3. - all-solid orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. The RSA-3 satellite launcher began development as an IRBM in the 1980's because of the perceived Soviet threat and isolation of South Africa. It was developed with the assistance of Israel and was believed to be essentially identical to the Israeli Jericho missile/Shavit launch vehicle. The objective of the satellite launcher was to place a small surveillance satellite of 330 kg mass into a 41 degree, 212 x 460 km orbit around the earth. Development continued even after South African renunciation of its nuclear weapons. However the launcher was found not to be viable commercially and so was cancelled in mid-1994.

• RSA-4. - all-solid orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1994. The RSA-4 ICBM / satellite launcher was a planned follow-on to the RSA-3. A large new first stage optimised the vehicle and more than doubled the payload in comparison to the RSA-3. It is not known if the project reached the point of testing of the large motor, which was equivalent to the US Peacekeeper first stage.

  The second and third stages were essentially those of the RSA-3. The fourth stage was clearly adapted from an ICBM MIRV post-boost bus platform. As an ICBM or orbital nuclear system the RSA-4 would have been capable of delivering a single 700 kg warhead anywhere on earth.

  Work on the RSA-4 was cancelled in 1994. An attempt was made by Houwteq to market the RSA-4 as a launcher for MEO earth satellite constellations. It was not to be...but the sales brochure from that effort survives and is reproduced below.

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• SAVH-3. - surface-to-air missile - Mach 1.5 at 12 km 40G lateral accelation, 6G at 7000 m, 10 seconds to 8 km, <17.5 seconds to 12 km, common RF/laser/command link, SAVH-IRS dual-colour IR, SAVH-RS pulse-doppler+ home-on-jam seeker.

• Swift. - anti-tank missile - Anti-tank

• Greensat. - Earth Landsat

• Sunsat. - Technology

• Melvill. - Mike Melvill American Pilot Test Pilot. Born 1941. Number of Flights: 2.00. Total Time: 0.0187 days.

• Shuttleworth. - Mark Richard Republic Shuttleworth South African Engineer Cosmonaut. Born 18 September 1973. Number of Flights: 1.00. Total Time: 9.89 days.

1989 Jun - Launch Site: Overberg. Launch Vehicle: RSA-3. LV Configuration: RSA-3 1.

• Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). References: 1172. Level: 1.

• Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). References: 1172. Level: 1.

• Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). References: 1836. Level: 1.

• RSA-3 / RSA-4 South African satellite launchers cancelled The RSA-3 satellite launcher began development as an IRBM in the 1980's. It was developed with the assistance of Israel. The satellite launcher was found not to be viable commercially and so was cancelled in mid-1994. The Overberg Test Range near Bredasdorp, 200 km east of Cape Town, was used for test flights.Level: 1.

• Sunsat Class: Technology. Spacecraft: Sunsat. Manufacturer: Stellenbosch University, Cape Town. Agency: Stellenb. Perigee: 644 km (400 mi). Apogee: 865 km (537 mi). Inclination: 96.50 deg. COSPAR: 1999-008C. USAF Sat Cat: 25636. Sunsat was built by students at Stellenbosch University, South Africa and carried a small imager and a message relay payload. Level: 1.