A giant leap worth celebrating! South African researchers are gearing up to send their B.A.L.L.S. to the moon.
South Africa (10 July 2026) – South Africa is taking another giant leap into space with Africa2Moon, an ambitious project aiming to place the world’s first radio telescope array on the Moon.
In 2029, China’s Chang’e-8 mission will blast off for the Moon’s south pole, carrying 11 international payloads. One of them is a set of South African-designed metal spheres called B.A.L.L.S. (Bounced African Low Lunar Spheres), each filled with a low-frequency radio antenna.
Africa2Moon is led by the Foundation for Space Development Africa, working alongside SARAO, SANSA, and researchers from Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University and UKZN. The dream is to eventually place 55 of these antennas on the Moon – one for every African nation – to study radio waves from space that can’t be picked up from Earth.
SARAO engineers are building the physical structure of the B.A.L.L.S. spheres, working closely with researchers from UKZN’s Aerospace Systems Research Institute to get the antennas and systems working together.
Stellenbosch University’s Electronic Systems Laboratory is involved too, with researchers and Master’s students helping build the electronics for the demonstration model that shows how the antennas and lander will communicate.
A test version of the B.A.L.L.S. design will be sent to China by mid-2026 for rigorous testing, to make sure it can handle the trip and survive on the lunar surface. If it passes, a final, space-grade version will be built for the actual mission!
It’s the latest milestone in a South African space journey that stretches back decades, from the country’s first satellite, SUNSAT, in 1999, to a thriving local space industry that’s now helping build technology destined for the Moon. That’s a giant leap worth celebrating!
Read more about the Africa2Moon mission and how Stellenbosch University’s researchers and students are involved in making it happen here.
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