NEE-02 Krysaor – Image credit EXA

Ecuador is hoping to have two CubeSats in orbit this year.

Their first CubeSat NEE-01 Pegasus will carry a 720p HD camera to send live video from space using a 0.9 watt TV transmitter in the 910 MHz (33cm) band along with a beacon that will send a Morse Code ID, a SSTV image and Ecuador’s national anthem. It was originally planned to launch on a Dnepr from Yansy but is now expected to fly on a CZ-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Space Center on April 26, 2013 at 0413 UT.

Ecuadors second CubeSat NEE-02 Krysaor carries the same payloads in the 910 MHz band as NEE-1 Pegasus but has a slightly different solar panel configuration. As yet websites such as Gunter Space Page give no indication on which rocket NEE-02 Krysaor will fly.

A CZ-2D rocket launch

The EXA website says this about NEE-02 Krysaor:

The NEE-02 KRYSAOR is a PEGASUS class satellite, which means that is a twin of the original NEE-01 PEGASUS, it was built after it and completed on June 2012, its primary function is to be a backup of the NEE-01 in case of any eventuality in the NEE-01 launch operation.

Once the NEE-01 is successfully injected in orbit, the NEE-02 will be launched in a 180 degree phase with respect of the NEE-01 orbit, at 98 degree inclination, helio synchronous orbit, whenever possible

When both satellites are in orbit, Ecuador will have its own satellite constellation with real time video access serving education and also acting as orbital sentinels watching for possible threats from small NEOs in last phase of atmospheric entry and helping to catalog orbital debris.

The 902-928 MHz (33cm) band is an amateur radio allocation in the United States and other countries and is used for ISM (unlicensed devices) in much of the world.

NEE-01 Pegasus http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=9723

NEE-02 Krysaor http://www.exa.ec/nee-02-eng.htm

NEE-01 Pegasus (Pegaso) website in Google English http://tinyurl.com/NEE-01-Pegasus

Ecuadorian CubeSat will monitor near-earth objects http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=6932

IAC2011 Paper http://exa.academia.edu/RonnieNader/Papers/795135/NEE-01_PEGASUS_The_first_Ecuadorian_Satellite

January 2014 Ecuadorian Civil Space Company (EXA)—Imagery Involvement + An Important Recovery (Satellites) http://www.satnews.com/story.php?number=1323163133