South Africa is schedule to launch ZACube-2, its second nanosatellite into space in July at a cost of R3 million.

The project, which has to date cost R15 million, is being funded by the South African Ministry of Science and Technology and will be managed by the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) after it is sent into orbit from India.

Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology, said the nanosatellite would serve the economy by helping the country to track ships along its coast.

She added that with the aid of an imager payload (an imaging device) - developed by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the CubeSat can also detect forest fires.

Weighing just 4kg, the nanosatellite which was developed by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in partnership with the French South African Institute of Technology (F'SATI), is regarded as the continent's most advanced cube satellite.

ZACube-2is three times the size of its predecessor TshepisoSat, and features an automatic identification system receiver as its main payload through which navigational data would be received.

F'SATI Director Prof Robert van Zyl revealed that the CubeSat will first be sent to Netherlands for integration with other CubeSats before heading to India for launch on a PSLV flight of ISRO in July 2018.

The launch site is Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on the east coast of India.

According to the South African government, the nanosatellite project is a collaboration involving South Africa, the University of Montpellier, the French Embassy in South Africa and the Paris Chamber of Commerce.

"This nanosatellite is the precursor of a series of other nanosatellites that will constitute the future constellation of surveillance equipment. It will be used for some aspects of the Phakisa national development programme, including monitoring the ocean," said the Minister.