The ARRL report Expedition 38 Astronauts Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, and Rick Mastracchio, KC5ZTE, will leave the confines of the International Space Station (ISS) December 21, 23, and 25 to repair a faulty cooling system pump.

The malfunction has already caused the postponement of one Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact. It’s unclear if the ISS problem will affect additional ARISS school contacts.

Planet Labs CubeSat Constellation

Also postponed is the shipment of four amateur radio 1U CubeSats LituanicaSAT-1, LitSat-1, ArduSat-2, UAPSat-1, the 915 MHz CubeSat SkyCube and 28 CubeSats (3U) from the company Planet Labs. The CubeSats were to have been sent to the ISS on an Orbital Sciences Antares-120 rocket on December 18 but this launch will not now take place until January.

Read the ARRL story at
http://www.arrl.org/news/two-ham-astronauts-to-repair-faulty-pump-during-multiple-spacewalks

LituanicaSAT-1 with amateur radio FM transponder to deploy from ISS
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/12/lituanicasat-1/

LitSat-1 amateur radio frequencies announced
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/09/11/litsat-1-amateur-radio-frequencies-announced/

ArduSat Open Source Ham Radio CubeSats
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/09/ardusat-open-source-ham-radio-cubesats/

UAPSat-1 http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=210

SkyCube to use 915 MHz CubeSat Ground Station Network
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/08/25/skycube-to-use-915-mhz-cubesat-ground-station-network/

In the United States and a number of other countries 915 MHz is an Amateur Radio allocation. In the UK the regulator Ofcom plan to make 915-921 MHz license exempt http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/short-range-devices/

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