AAUSAT3 Flight Model and Engineering Model – Image credit Aalborg University
The Hindu newspaper reports that the first launch of the year by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be the PSLV-CA (PSLV-C20). It will carry the ocean study spacecraft SARAL as well as satellites carrying amateur radio payloads. The launch into a 785 km orbit is currently planned to take place on February 25.
Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space
The Herald newspaper reports that the CubeSat UKube-1 will be launched in June, 2013.
The spacecraft is being built for the UK Space Agency (UKSA) by Clyde Space and the launch will take place from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz-2 along with TechDemoSat-1.
The newspaper reports that Clyde Space has announced plans for a base in the United States.
UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards to provide an amateur radio 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 1200 bps BPSK beacon for educational outreach.
Vibration testing of the Vietnamese PicoDragon CubeSat – Image Credit VNSC
Five new CubeSats being developed in Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States are hoping to fly during 2013.
The ESEO spacecraft Copyright ALMASpace – ESA
AMSAT-UK will be providing a 1260/145 MHz FM transponder and a 145 MHz BPSK telemetry beacon for the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO). This is the third mission within the European Space Agency’s Education Satellite Programme.
The satellite, which has a mass of 40 kg and measures 33x33x63 cm, is planned to launch in 2015-16 into a low Earth orbit.
Nine European universities will be working with the prime contractor ALMASpace, Italy, on the mission. Cranfield University in Bedfordshire will be supplying a small sail that will be deployed to demonstrate the de-orbiting of spacecraft at the end of the mission.
The primary purpose of the AMSAT-UK payload is to provide a downlink telemetry that can be easily received by schools and colleges for educational outreach purposes. The data will be displayed in an attractive format and provide stimulation and encouragement for students to become interested in all STEM subjects in a unique way.
The target audience is primarily students at both primary and secondary levels and the project includes the development of a simple and cheap “ground station” operating on VHF frequencies in the Amateur Satellite Service. This station is an omni-directional antenna feeding a FUNcube DonglePRO+ SDR receiver which will receive the signals direct from the satellite and transfer the data to specially developed graphical software running on any Windows laptop.
Arirang, a TV station in Korea, has broadcast an English language TV news item about CubeSats that features a brief clip of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 CubeSat.
FUNcube-1 is planned to launch in 2013 and will provide an amateur radio 435/145 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW communications and a 1200 bps BPSK beacon for educational outreach.
A shot of the FUNcube-1 engineering model stack with an antenna deployment simulator attached can be seen 5 seconds into this video.
Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space
This video shows the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1 which is being built by Clyde Space. It is slated to launch in the 1st quarter of 2013 on a Soyuz-2 along with TechDemoSat-1.
UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards to provide an amateur radio 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 1200 bps BPSK beacon for educational outreach.
On Saturday, January 26, UKube-1 was at Selex Edinburgh for vibration testing. This test was to simulate the vibration seen during launch to verify the build quality. In the space game this is called giving the spacecraft a ‘shake’.
AMSAT-UK 
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