RSA-3 - payload

The South African RSA-3 launch vehicle was designed to place a small surveillance satellite of 330 kg mass into a 41 degree, 212 x 460 km orbit around the earth. Following cancellation of the military missile program in 1989, the project was reoriented to civilian uses, with the declared missions of vehicle tracking and regional planning. However the new government cancelled the RSA-3, and with it Greensat.

The solar array for the satellite had a mass of under 7 kg and with three panels could supply 295 W of power. The thermal satellite blanket insulated the payload from temperatures ranging from -80 degrees C to + 100 degrees C. Certain technology on the satellite was probably derived from that of the Israeli Ofeq satellites. However Greensat was over twice the mass of the Ofeq, due to the favorable launch azimuth for the RSA-3 launch vehicle from South Africa as compared to due-West launch of the similar Shavit booster from Israel.