ARTSAT2:DESPATCH Internal Structure

The launch of the amateur radio spacecraft Shin’en2 JG6YIG and ARTSAT2:DESPATCH JQ1ZNN has again been postponed and should now be 04:22:04 UT on Wednesday, December 3, 2014. The launch was broadcast live at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5TmrQ_ySfg starting at 03:30 UT.

Update: Launch was successful http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2014/12/20141203_h2af26.html

Shin’en 2

The launch of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 26 (H-IIA F26) which also carries the asteroid explorer “Hayabusa2” had been rescheduled from November 30 to December 1 due to a freezing layer in the clouds that exceeded the weather restrictions for launch. Strong winds have caused a further postponement to December 3.

ARTSAT2:DESPATCH carries a 7 watt CW transmitter on 437.325 MHz and the first sculpture to be carried into deep space.

Shin’en2 has a CW beacon on 437.505 MHz (0.1 watt) and telemetry on 437.385 MHz (0.8 watt) using a mode which Seiji JH6RTO describes as similar to WSJT but not the same.

The Shin’en2 English language Ground Station page mentions WSJT but the equivalent Japanese language page does not.

The Shin’en2 site indicates there is also a F1D digital transponder with an uplink of 145.942 MHz with 435.270 MHz (0.4 watt) downlink.

The two spacecraft will have an elliptic orbit around the Sun and travel to a deep space orbit between Venus and Mars. The inclination will be almost zero, which means the spacecraft should stay in the Earth’s equatorial plane. The distance from the Sun will be between 0.7 and 1.3 AU. An Astronomical Unit (AU) is 149,597,871 km.

ARTSAT2:DESPATCH http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Main_Page

ARTSAT2:DESPATCH spacecraft prediction App
http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ham_satellite/in_english/index.html

Shin’en2 http://www.shin-en2.jp/index_E.html

Shin’en2 spacecraft prediction App
http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ham_satellite/2014/12/artsat2-despa-3.html

Weather restriction graphic showing clouds with freezing layer
http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2014/11/20141128_h2af26.html

Ham radio launches to deep space
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/11/19/ham-radio-launches-to-deep-space/

Japanese asteroid mission to carry amateur radio
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/09/01/japanese-asteroid-mission-to-carry-amateur-radio/

Thanks to Hideo JH3XCU/1 for posting news of the postponement on the AMSAT Bulletin Board.