Tag Archives: CubeSat

Apr 26 2013

Ham Radio CubeSats Successfully Launched

CZ-2D Launch

CZ-2D Launch

At 0413 UT on Friday, April 26, two amateur radio CubeSats TURKSAT-3USAT and CubeBug-1 along with the NEE-01 Pegasus HD TV CubeSat were launched from the Jiuquan Space Center on a CZ-2D rocket.

TURKSAT-3USAT is a 3U CubeSat (10x10x30cm) and carries a 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder built by the Turkish TAMSAT / AMSAT-TR group for SSB and CW communications.

• CW Beacon or 9600 bps data: 437.225 MHz
• Uplink: 145.940 to 145.990 MHz
• Downlink: 435.200 to 435.250 MHz

Further details at https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/turksat-3usat/

The Argentine CubeBug-1 is a 2U CubeSat (10x10x20cm) and has an AX.25 packet radio digipeater.

It operates  on 437.445 MHz using 1200 bps AX.25 AFSK FM packet radio, callsign LU1VZ-11. Depending on the mode of the satellite the beacons will be transmitted every 10 to 30 seconds.

Further details at https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/cubebug-1/

Also on the same launch was NEE-01 Pegasus a 1U CubeSat (10x10x10cm) built in Ecuador that operates on 910 MHz (an amateur band in some countries). It will operate either a 0.9 watt output 720p HD TV transmitter or a beacon which will send a Morse Code ID, a SSTV image and Ecuador’s national anthem. EarthCam – SpaceCam http://www.earthcam.com/world/ecuador/ecsa/

Further details at
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/25/nee-01-pegaus-hd-tv-cubesat/

TURSAT-3USAT and CubeBug-1 Received

At 0915 UT Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG reported he had heard the TURKSAT-3USAT CW beacon and a transmission that looked like 9k6 from CubeBug-1.

The TURKSAT-3USAT recordings are at:
http://pa3weg.nl/pa3weg/recordings/TurkSat-26-04-2013_0904UTC_1_PA3WEG.mp3
and
http://pa3weg.nl/pa3weg/recordings/TurkSat-26-04-2013_0904UTC_2_PA3WEG.mp3

CubeBug-1 recording, listening to the FM AFSK in SSB
http://www.pa3weg.nl/pa3weg/recordings/CubeBug-1-26-04-2013_1040UTC_PA3WEG.mp3

Wouter PA3WEG later reported CubeBug-1 has been heard again on the 1220 UT pass. Its modulation
is AFSK 1200bps but seems to be lacking deviation. It was transmitting every 30 seconds.  A recording can be found at
http://pa3weg.nl/pa3weg/recordings/CubeBug-1t-26-04-2013_1220UTC_PA3WEG.mp3

The TURKSAT-3USAT CW Message as decoded at 0904 UT by Wouter Jan PE4WJ:
TURKSAT 3U SAT HAAAAAA YM2RTU 0 0 (the last zeroes are ??)

Jan van Gils PE0SAT reported receiving CubeBug-1 at 1220 UT http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/2013/cubebug-heard/

A Tweet from Ecuador about NEE-01 Pegasus said (Google English translation) “An amateur radio operator in Germany we pass the audio signal PEGASUS and the first thing we heard was the NATIONAL ANTHEM! PEGASUS is alive!”

TLEs / ‘Keps’ for the new CubeSats:

TURKSAT                 
1 12345U 12345A   13116.18500615  .00000000  00000-0  10000-4 0     6
2 12345  98.0372 191.7767 0017397 251.4298 279.4470 14.76467545    04
NEE-01 PEGASO           
1 12346U 12346A   13116.18500615  .00000000  00000-0  10000-4 0     8
2 12346  98.0563 191.7735 0017556 248.2772 282.5989 14.76251447    02
CUBEBUG                 
1 12347U 12347A   13116.18500615  .00000000  00000-0  10000-4 0     0
2 12347  98.0563 191.7735 0017556 248.2772 282.5989 14.76251447    03

Free satellite tracking software:
• SimpleSat Look Down http://www.tomdoyle.org/SimpleSatLookDown/
• Gpredict http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/
• Orbitron http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=9051

TLEs / ‘Keps’ for new satellites launched in past 30 days
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

Article – Getting started on satellites
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/radcom-getting-started-on-satellites/

Apr 25 2013

NEE-01 Pegasus HD TV CubeSat

CubeSat NEE-01 Pegasus

CubeSat NEE-01 Pegasus – Image credit EXA

Pegasus NEE-01 the first of two HD TV CubeSats built in Ecuador is planned to launch on a CZ-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Space Center on Friday, April 26 at 0413 UT.

Ronnie Nader with Elisse Nader and CubeSat

Ronnie Nader with Elisse Nader and CubeSat

An EXA announcement said NEE-01 PEGASUS and NEE-02 KRYSAOR are the first CubeSats designed and developed entirely in Latin America, without help or support from abroad.

“This is a major milestone in our history and the history of the region, now our space technology is qualified for Russian and Chinese launch vehicles and to survive the space environment. The satellites passed the tests without any problems and now we await the launch of the first, the NEE-01 PEGASUS in the first half of May and the second in the latter half of July” said Ronnie Nader, Director of Space Operations EXA and leader of the team that designed and built the satellite.

Both satellites were designed and built by EXA engineers who donated their work voluntarily, the Ecuadorian Government financed the launch and testing.

EXA and the Ecuadorian government are engaging in ​​joint projects to ensure full utilization of the satellites, for both scientific and educational purposes.

NEE-02 Krysaor - Image credit EXA

NEE-02 Krysaor – Image credit EXA

The launch of the NEE-01 had been scheduled for November last year aboard a Russian Dnepr rocket, but the launch was postponed to later this year, and it was decided to launch NEE-01 on a Chinese CZ-2D rocket. The satellites had to meet the launch requirements of both vehicles, which was a skill level higher than previously achieved by the Ecuadorian engineers.

Source of text above: http://www.exa.ec/bp46/ translated by Google.

Each CubeSat is just 10x10x10 cm (1U) and they have fold-out solar panels which give a total span of 70 cm. They will each carry a 0.9 watt output 720p HD TV transmitter and a beacon which will send a Morse Code ID, a SSTV image and Ecuador’s national anthem. It is understood that NEE-001 will operate on 910 MHz in the 33cm band, an amateur radio allocation in a number of countries, while NEE-02 will be in the 980 MHz band.

Educational outreach is an important part of the project. EXA is partnering with three schools in Ecuador as part of the ASTERIA Program, in which students will use the satellite in their curricular and extra curricular activities.

The satellite signal will be received and decoded by the EXA HERMES-A ground station in Guayaquil and then uploaded live to the Internet using Facebook and Twitter; the first signal will contain text book questions and the second will contain an image related to the question. If the students are able to answer the question correctly they will be granted access to the video camera on board the spacecraft and will be able to see Earth from space as the astronauts see it in their space missions. More advanced students will have access to the pure radio signal so they can try decoding it by themselves.

There is also a HERMES-B ground station located in Kirch-Brombach, Germany.

Journey to Space!
EarthCam has teamed up with the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency to deliver what EarthCam describe as an amazing viewing experience from an orbiting satellite. Mounted on the NEE-01 Pegasus, a live camera invites viewers to take a trip into space and explore the galaxy.
EarthCam – SpaceCam http://www.earthcam.com/world/ecuador/ecsa/

EXA indicates that NEE-02 KRYSAOR is expected to launch on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny later this year.

Twitter https://twitter.com/NEE01_PEGASO hash tags #SatélitePegaso #Pegaso

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NEE01PEGASO

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEE-01_Pegasus

Two TV CubeSats from Ecuador https://amsat-uk.org/2013/02/14/two-tv-cubesats-from-ecuador/

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

Apr 25 2013

ST2NH Receives Images from PhoneSats

Nader Omer ST2NH

Nader Omer ST2NH

On his Blog Nader Omer ST2NH reports that he has been receiving images from PhoneSats Graham and Bell that were deployed on Sunday, April 21.

He says “Every Image is small part of one big picture which is being compose by phonesat team from the world wide collected data, like jigsaw puzzle photo.”

Read Nader’s Blog at
http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/images-i-received-from-phonesat.html

PhoneSat http://www.phonesat.org/

Apr 25 2013

Article on the ham radio TURKSAT-3USAT CubeSat

TURKSAT-3USAT and Deployment Pod

TURKSAT-3USAT and Deployment Pod

A well illustrated article on TURKSAT-3USAT has been published by the Turkish TAMSAT / AMSAT-TR group. It includes a section on how to hear the satellite and have contacts using its amateur radio 145/435 MHz inverting linear transponder.

TURKSAT-3USAT is expected to launch on April 26, 2013 at 0413 UT on a CZ-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Space Center. The satellite has a de-orbiting system which will make it re-enter the atmosphere at the end of its operational life.

Read the article in Google English at http://tinyurl.com/TURKSAT-3USAT-Article

TURKSAT-3USAT https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/turksat-3usat/

Apr 25 2013

CubeBug-1 with ham radio digipeater to launch Friday

CubeBug-1

CubeBug-1

CubeBug-1 is the first technology demonstration mission for a new CubeSat platform design (mechanics, hardware and software) intended to be released as Open Source and Open Hardware for its use in Amateur projects, University projects and research labs.

A CZ-2D rocket launch

A CZ-2D rocket launch

The project is sponsored by the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation.

Payloads on this first mission include:
• an ARM based on-board computer
• a nano-reaction wheel with its driver circuit
• a low resolution camera
all based on COTS components

CubeBug-1 is a 2U CubeSat and uses a 1 watt output AstroDev Lithium Li-1 on 437.445 MHz using 1200 bps AX.25 AFSK FM packet radio, callsign LU1VZ-11. Depending on the mode of the satellite the beacons will be transmitted every 10 to 30 seconds. Telemetry information is at http://1.cubebug.org/coms/telemetry

The team say “Please, if you hear the satellite, lets as know by email to cubebug1@satellogic.com. If you decode a beacon or save its audio, please please please, share it with us!”.

After the technology demonstration part of the mission is over, the satellite will enter a mode that will include services to the Amateur radio community, including an AX.25 Packet Radio Digipeater, science data downloads from the payload (including images if possible).

CubeBug-1 is expected to launch on a Long March CZ-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Space Center on April 26, 2013 at 0413 UT. After 816.5 seconds the CubeBug-1 will be deployed from the rocket. Orbital data including TLE is at http://1.cubebug.org/orbit

Other satellites on the same launch include NEE-01 Pegasus (910 MHz) and TURKSAT-3USAT (145/435 MHz linear transponder).

Watch a CubeBug-1 video at http://vimeo.com/56055215

CubeBug-1 website http://1.cubebug.org/

Follow #CubeBug1  on Twitter @CubeBug1 https://twitter.com/CubeBug1

Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ for CubeSats are at
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt

TLEs / ‘Keps’ for new satellites launched in past 30 days
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

Free satellite tracking software:
• SimpleSat Look Down http://www.tomdoyle.org/SimpleSatLookDown/
• Gpredict http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/
• Orbitron http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=9051

Apr 24 2013

Live Video of Spring CubeSat Workshop

Image of a CubeSat in Space

Image of a CubeSat in Space

Live video of the Spring CubeSat Workshop taking place April 24-26 is available at

http://mediasite01.ceng.calpoly.edu/Mediasite/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=36b100d1-069a-4bac-b7e3-8a9512655e78

Details of the 10th Annual Spring CubeSat Workshop are at http://www.cubesat.org/