Tag Archives: CubeSat

Jan 25 2024

IO-117 GreenCube to cease operating on February 5

S5Lab announcement on X that GreenCube is to cease operation

S5Lab announcement on X that GreenCube is to cease operation

At 1622 GMT on Thursday, January 25, 2024 @S5Lab posted on X that the GreenCube IO-117 Digipeater would be permanently deactivated on February 5.

Designed and developed by students of Sapienza University of Rome, GreenCube IO-117 was the first satellite to carry an amateur radio payload into Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) – 6,000 km.

IARU satellite frequency coordination information https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=784

AMSAT Responds to Planned Decommissioning of IO-117 (GreenCube)
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-responds-planned-decommissioning-io-117-greencube/

The S5Lab post on X said:

Dear Friends,

After one year and a half of operations, it is time to conclude the GreenCube operations with the planned de-commissioning activities. After the conclusion of the nominal experiment and with the digipeater payload active for more than one year, we will pergorm the passivation operations for the satellite.

The planned passivation operations will be executed on Monday, 5 February 2024, at 00:00 UTC. From that day, GreenCube will be completely passivated and the digipeater will be switched off for good.

We want to thank everyone that endorsed, supported or participated in the mission and the radio amateur community that enthusiastically became a true part of our project. We hope that GreenCube will somehow be part of your memories of radio amateurs, space engineering enthusiasts, and we hope to involve you soon in many more adventures.

Thanks once again for the unbelievable memories shared together… See you soon!

The GreenCube Team at S5Lab

Dec 29 2023

December 2023 OSCAR News now available

December 2023 2023-12 OSCAR News front pageE-members of AMSAT-UK can now download the December 2023 edition of OSCAR News, issue 243, here.

The paper edition edition will be sent to postal members and should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.

In this issue:
• From the Secretary’s Keyboard
• Letters to the Editor
• Satellite News
• Beyond the Bent Pipe by Martin Ling M0LNG
• St Peter-in-Thanet Junior School ARISS Contact by John Hislop, G7OHO
• Greencube Antennas by Dave Fisher KG0D
• Packet Decode Analysis from GreenCube Terminal’s debug.log by Justin Sours, N9ZTS

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Mission Patch

Membership of AMSAT-UK is open to anyone who has an interest in amateur radio satellites or space activities, including the International Space Station (ISS).

E-members of AMSAT-UK are able to download the quarterly publication OSCAR News as a convenient PDF that can be read on laptops, tablets or smartphones anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Join as an E-member at Electronic (PDF) E-membership

PDF sample copy of “Oscar News” here.

Join AMSAT-UK using PayPal, Debit or Credit card at
http://shop.amsat-uk.org/

E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News here.

Dec 17 2023

ISS deployment of Clark sat-1 (AMBITIOUS)

Students involved in the Clark sat-1 project

Students involved in the Clark sat-1 project

Clark sat-1 (AMBITIOUS), callsign JS1YLT, is scheduled to deploy from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, December 18, 2023, at 10:15 GMT. The IARU coordinated downlink is 435.130 MHz.

Clark sat-1 (AMBITIOUS) CubeSat

Clark sat-1 (AMBITIOUS) CubeSat

Clark sat-1 is a 1U size satellite is an educational project of students at the Clark Memorial International High School in Japan. As of November 30 approximately 50 students have been involved in the project and a number have an amateur radio license. The satellite will carry out these missions:

1. Optical Camera Mission
Take photos of the Earth and will downlink them in the 435 MHz band (GMSK, 4,800 bps). The downlink schedule will be posted on X (@sat1_AMBITIOUS).

2. Digi-talker Mission
Downlink 40 to 120 seconds long Digi-talker NBFM signal (Voice message or SSTV pictures in Robot 36 format recorded before launch) including the call sign and school name. communications.

In addition to the 4k8 AX25 GMSK telemetry and mission data there will be a CW beacon every two minutes.

Through these missions, the students will be able to improve their amateur radio and satellite communication skills.

The project will also serve as a model showcase for the development of amateur satellites by the younger generation, and stimulate the interest of the younger generation in amateur radio and satellite

We would appreciate if you will report the reception to “clarksat-1@clark.ed.jp” after receiving those signals.

Other information
1) Orbit injection schedule (may change)
Dec. 18th, 2023 （Monday）10:15（UTC）
refer : https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/biz-lab/news/detail/003559.html

2) Clark sat-1 website https://sp.clark.ed.jp/en/

3) IARU website https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=852

4) X account (@sat1_AMBITIOUS) https://twitter.com/sat1_AMBITIOUS

5) NASA’s archive movie of the satellite’s launch to the ISS
Clark sat-1 was launched on November 10, 2023 (UTC) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, USA.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Hgj1byn08lM

Kosuke Narita, JS1YIZ

Dec 13 2023

AO-73 back in transponder mode

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

AO-73 (FUNcube-1) – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

After a year long period of ‘battery management’, AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL have restarted the transponder on AO-73.

After 10 years in orbit, the battery on the satellite has reduced capacity and until recently, has been unable to charge to the nominal 8.3V.
Following some careful battery management, where the transmitter was off during eclipse, the battery status has improved and the transponder has been reactivated.

Although the battery voltage is varying between 8.13 in sunlight and 7.8V at the end of eclipse, this is much improved on the situation earlier in the year.

Low power BPSK telemetry is transmitted on 145.935MHz
The inverting mode U/V transponder input is 435.130 to 435.150MHz
The transponder downlink is 145.970 to 145.950MHz

At the moment the satellite has a high spin rate of apx. 30 rpm and if you’ve not used AO-73 before, the downlink can be Doppler tracked successfully, but the input on 70cms is best tuned manually due to temperature drift of the receiver.

73

David G0MRF – AMSAT-UK

Nov 20 2023

Happy 10th Birthday FUNcube-1 (AO-73)

Signal received from FUNcube-1 at National Radio Centre Bletchley Park, Nov 21, 2013

Signal received from FUNcube-1 at National Radio Centre Bletchley Park, Nov 21, 2013

November 21, 2023, marks the tenth birthday of our very first CubeSat mission, FUNcube-1 (AO-73).

A very short time after the launch from Yasny in Russia and within a few minutes from deployment, the very first frame of data from the low power transmitter on board, was detected and decoded by ZS1LS in South Africa. He was able to relay the data over the internet from his Dashboard to the Data Warehouse and the numbers, appeared, as if by magic, at the launch party being held at the RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park.

FUNcube ISL03 Mission Patch

ISL03 Mission Patch

After a very brief check out, the FUNcube team were able to switch the transmitter to full power, again at the very first attempt, and were quite amazed at the strength of the signal from the 300mW transmitter on 145.935 MHz. The transponder was then switched on and successfully tested, the first contact was between G6LVB and M5AKA who were both operating from the Bletchley Park car park.

The team finished the day with a request to AMSAT-NA for an Oscar number and were delighted to receive the AO73 Oscar 73 designation!

Since then, FUNcube-1, with a launch mass of less than 1kg, has operated continuously with only a very few interruptions. In excess of 53,500 orbits, 1.3 billion miles travelled, 61 million telemetry data packets transmitted, and with more than 10.9 million unique data packets downloaded and stored in the Data Warehouse.

The FUNcube team still receive many requests for Fitter message uploads for school events…please contact us by email to operations@funcube.org.uk giving us at least two weeks notice.

The FUNcube team continue to be very grateful to all the many stations around the world that continue to upload the telemetry that they receive to our Data Warehouse. They really need this data to provide a continuous resource for educational outreach.

FUNcube Data Warehouse and the Dashboard software
https://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/

FUNcube email group https://groups.io/g/FUNcube

FUNcube Website http://www.funcube.org.uk/

Nov 3 2023

Delfi-C3 – DO64 Deorbiting Soon

Delfi-C3 Team at AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2008

Delfi-C3 Team at AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2008

After more than 15 years in orbit, Delfi-C3’s mission is about to come to an end. The team predict that re-entry will take place around November 16th 2023.

The re-entry date might vary depending on the solar activity, which is very hard to predict accurately. See also @Marco_Langbroek on Twitter for a similar prediction.

https://twitter.com/Marco_Langbroek/status/1720110996499349663

Delfi-C3 Re-entry Prediction

Delfi-C3 Re-entry Prediction

We would like to request all amateur radio operators / SWL’s / satellite enthusiasts worldwide to listen for Delfi-C3’s telemetry downlink on 145.867 MHz, 1200 baud AX.25 BPSK. We will hand out an award certificate to the person submitting the last Delfi-C3 telemetry frame.

This can be done either through the RASCAL software (updated version coming…), through the SATNOGS network or by sending us decoded telemetry frames with reception time and location via email to Delfi_at_tudelft.nl.

On behalf of the entire Delfi-C3 team, we would like to sincerely thank the worldwide amateur radio / SWL / satellite community for assisting the team by forwarding received telemetry and reception reports.

Back in 2008 we could not imagine the great support received so far and the many first we had, including a successful ground network and flying the first linear transponder in a CubeSat.

We strongly believe that Delfi-C3 has paved the way for many follow-on missions (both amateur and commercial), and has been a great step towards maturing CubeSat technology as well as training the next generation of space engineers. Stay tuned for updates!

On behalf of the team best 73s,

Wouter PA3WEG