BMA Feature: South African Engineers Prepare Home-Grown Radio Telescope Prototypes for Lunar Testing
Engineers at South Africa's Stellenbosch University have developed a low-cost radio telescope prototype designed for lunar exploration. The project, which aims to launch on China's Chang'e-8 mission, seeks to detect deep-space signals from the Moon's far side.
Why it matters
This demonstrates significant progress in African space technology and international scientific collaboration, highlighting cost-effective innovation in the aerospace sector.
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<p><strong>STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA – </strong>South African engineers and researchers working at Stellenbosch University are ready to send their own B.A.L.L.S., a prototype array of radio telescopes known as Bounced African Low Lunar Spheres, to China to test its capability for an important lunar mission.</p>
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<p>The three-sphere radio telescope array was created to work on the Moon's far side and detect low-frequency signals from outer space, which are protected from radio waves emitted by the planet. It will be launched on board China's Chang'e-8 mission, which will touch down near the Moon's south pole around 2029.</p>
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