Tag Archives: EASAT-2

Jan 18 2022

EASAT-2 and HADES Update

EASAT-2 and HADESAMSAT-EA Mission Manager Felix EA4GQS provides an update on the status of the EASAT-2 and HADES satellites launched on January 13.

On the AMSAT Bulletin Board he writes:

We confirm the reception of both EASAT-2 and HADES, as well as the decoding of telemetry and the FM recorded voice beacon with the callsign AM5SAT of the first one. EASAT-2 appears to be working well except for the deployment of the antennas, something that apparently has not yet occurred and causes weak signals. However, the AMSAT-EA team confirms that, based on the reception of FSK, CW, the FM voice beacon and the telemetry data that has been decoded, it can be said that the satellite is working perfectly. In the event of low battery or system malfunction, the on-board computer would not transmit CW messages or the voice beacon-callsign, as it would be in a ‘safe’ state with only fast and slow telemetry transmissions.

These signals that have been able to confirm the operation of both satellites were received by Dr. Daniel Estévez EA4GPZ at 18:07 UTC on Saturday, January 15, using two antennas from the Allen Telescope Array. The TLEs used were obtained from the radio amateur community, with Doppler observations from the Delfi-PQ satellite, deployed together with EASAT-2 and Hades.

TLEs used were these ones:
https://github.com/AMSAT-EA/easat2-tle-lottery/blob/main/satnogs-2022-01-16-DELFI-PQ.tle

Daniel EA4GPZ performed a preliminary analysis using just one polarization of one of the satellite dishes. EASAT-2 has been detected with a relatively strong signal, close to the Delfi-PQ signal, obtaining said recorded voice FM beacon transmissions and FSK, FSK-CW at 50 baud.

The CW beacon clearly shows the message: VVV AM5SAT SOL Y PLAYA, which is one of several that both satellites emit, although the callsign AM5SAT confirms that it is EASAT-2.

In the recording made by Daniel EA4GPZ there is also a faint trace confirmed to be from Hades and stronger packets probably from the IRIS-A satellite.

HADES, like EASAT-2, is transmitting weak signals, weaker than the ones of EASAT-2, most likely because the on-board computer has not yet managed to deploy the antennas either, although it will continue trying regularly. The reason the signals are suspected to be weaker at Hades is that the antennas are more tightly folded than those of EASAT-2. In any case, this is great news, since the transmission pattern confirms the proper functioning of the satellite. In the observations you can see the FSK tones with a deviation of about 5 kHz interspersed with the FM carrier corresponding to the voice beacon of the satellite, which has callsign AM6SAT. The AMSAT-EA team is working to try to decode the telemetry signals and obtain more detailed information on the state of the satellite.

We kindly ask you, if you have very high gain antennas, to try to receive them, specially Hades. If we could decode telemetry it would be very helpful for us.

Until antennas are deployed it will be very difficult to use their repeaters or to receive any SSTV camera images from Hades, but we hope that this will happen sooner or later, at least because even if the computer doesn’t succeed applying heat to the resistor where the thread is attached, with time, the thread should break due to the space environment conditions.

Details of the decoded telemetry and voice, as well as more details in:
https://www.amsat-ea.org/ (Texts are in Spanish)

And in the following Twitter threads:

EASAT-2 transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482457631566487553

EASAT-2 decodings by Gabriel Otero:
https://twitter.com/gaoterop/status/1482758196037050382

HADES transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482696274797338625

Thanks a lot and 73,

Felix EA4GQS – AMSAT EA Mission manager

Jan 7 2022

Launch of EASAT-2 and HADES satellites

EASAT-2 and HADESThe EASAT-2 and HADES satellites, each carrying an FM transponder and digipeater, are expected to launch on January 13 at 15:25 GMT on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-3 mission.

A translation of a post by Spain’s URE reads:

The Scottish space broker Alba Orbital has confirmed the correct integration of the EASAT-2 and Hades satellites in the Falcon-9vehicle, using the company’s AlbaPOD ejector. It is confirmed, except for exceptional circumstances, the launch for this Thursday, January 13, initially at 15.25 UTC (16.25 Spanish peninsular time). Both satellites should have been launched a year ago, but the problems of the Momentusintegrator, on whose Vigoride vehicle albaPod ejectors of Alba Orbital were to be integrated with the American administration, caused this delay. Momentus was replaced by Exolaunch for the flight.

Both satellites offer FM voice communications and data relay in FSK or AFSK up to 2400 bps,such as AX.25 or APRS frames. They also broadcast voice beacons on FM with the callsigns AM5SAT and AM6SAT,as well as CW.

The EASAT-2satellite, designed and built jointly by AMSAT-EA and students of the European University of the Degrees in Aerospace Engineering in Aircraft and in Telecommunication Systems Engineering,with contributions from ICAI in the communications part, incorporates as experimental cargo basaltic material from Lanzarote,similar to lunar basalts, provided by the research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences of the CSIC at the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and that could be used as a building material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).

The UNESCO world geopark of Lanzarote and Chinijo archipelago has been used for various investigations as an analogue of the Moon and Mars, including also the instruction of ESA astronauts. The selected basaltic material meets the requirements to be used as a simulant of the basalt existing on the Moon. The purpose of the experiment is to determine its evolution in space based on periodic measurements of some of its properties. Although the experiment is limited and constitutes a first phase of this type of study, it is an important milestone as it is the first of its kind introduced on such a small satellite.

As for Hades,its payload consists of a miniature camera module that sends the captured images as an audio signal in SSTVmode. The SSTV formats it uses are compatible with Robot36, Robot72, MP73 and MP115.

The design is based on the one used in the successful mission of the PSAT2satellite, an amateur radio satellite of the United States Naval Academy and brno University of Technology. This chamber has been operational since June 25, 2019: (http://www.aprs.org/psat2.html).

The camera chip is the Omnivision OV2640, which provides a resolution of up to 2M pixels and compressed output in JPEG. Resolution is limited by the CPU’s internal memory (MCU) that controls the camera to 320×240 (typical) or 640×480 maximum. The MCU selected for the control is the STM32F446RET6, which has the smallest possible footprint with connection to DCMI peripheral, necessary for connection with the camera.

Images can be stored on a 2 MB serial flash memory. The complete SSTV encoder has managed to be implemented in a 4-layer PCB with dimensions of only 38x38mm.

The MCU can be fully controlled from ground stations. The firmware allows the sending of images of the camera live,of imágenes previously saved in the flash memory or of images encoded in ROM. It also provides advance programming of image acquisition and PSK telemetry with the current status (event counters, temperature, voltage, light conditions, etc.) and a brief summary.

The described module has been developed and manufactured at the Department of Radioelectronics of the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. Both hardware and firmware designs with the source codes will be available on Github under the MIT license (https://github.com/alpov/SatCam).

Initially only the EASAT-2 repeater is active. Hades’ will be activated by telecommand a few days after launch.

The frequencies coordinated with IARU for both satellites are as follows:

EASAT-2
  • 145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: VOICE FM (without undertone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
  • 436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign

HADES

  • 145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: VOICE FM (without undertone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
  • 436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with AM6SAT callsign

The description of the transmissions can be found in the following document:

Español — English:

AMSAT-EA appreciates the reception of telemetry, voice beacons and SSTV images. A paper QSL is sent to those who send their transmissions. It can be done through the following link: http://data.amsat-ea.org

May 30 2021

EASAT-2 and Hades launch delayed again

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

Spain’s URE reports the launch of EASAT-2 and Hades satellites have suffered another delay.

A translation of the URE post reads:

EASAT-2 and Hades, the communications satellites for radio amateurs built by AMSAT-EA, will not be able to be launched in June with SpaceX as planned, as the FAA (the American Aviation Administration) has rejected the license to the integrator Momentus Space, On whose orbital transfer vehicle Vigoride was to be mounted the AlbaPOD ejector from Alba Orbital, within which are the satellites of AMSAT EA, as well as other organizations and universities.

The reasons for the FAA’s rejection stem from the company’s capital structure, which, according to the American agency, could endanger the national security of the United States. The next launch opportunity could come in December.

EASAT-2 and Hades were to have been launched in January this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, but the Momentus license was also rejected by the FAA at the time.

Both satellites are FM and FSK voice repeaters, also having digitized voice recordings. Hades also incorporates an SSTV camera developed by the University of Brno in the Czech Republic and EASAT-2 incorporates as an experimental load a basaltic material from Lanzarote, similar to lunar basalts, provided by the research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences of the CSIC in the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and that it could be used as a construction material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).

The frequencies coordinated with the IARU for both satellites are the following:

EASAT-2
• 145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (without sub-tone) and FSK 50 bps
• 436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign

HADES
• 145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (without sub-tone) and FSK 50 bps
• 436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with callsign AM6SAT

Source URE https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Spain

Read the May 2021 AMSAT-EA newsletter in English at

Click to access AMSAT-EA-Boletin_05-2021.pdf

May 8 2021

URE satellite telecommand station automated

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

Spain’s national amateur radio society URE has announced their satellite ground station has been automated and is ready for the launch of GENESIS, EASAT-2 and Hades satellites.

A translation of the URE post reads:

The URE satellite monitoring and telecommand station, located at the Madrid headquarters, on Monte Igueldo street, has recently been completely automated, thanks to the efforts made in recent weeks.

These works, which began to be carried out before the confinements due to the pandemic, have consisted of the change of the lifting rotor, which due to its long time without maintenance had been unusable, the alignment of the antennas, both VHF and UHF, of circular polarization, the installation of a Linux computer, the configuration of the reception software with SDR and the emission software using Pluto hardware, acquired by URE, as well as the automation of the rotor control with the hardware provided by EA4TX (ARS).

This station will automatically record and analyze the telemetry of the twin GÉNESIS satellites, as well as EASAT-2 and Hades, all of them designed and built by AMSAT EA, as well as remote control in the event that actions are necessary on your computer from a on board, which, once in space, will be able to receive instructions from Earth to modify its operation, although the satellites themselves implement the intelligence necessary to adapt to adverse circumstances that may occur in space.

The GENESIS satellites should be launched soon, once Firefly, the American company that built the launch vehicle, completes the static tests of its Alpha rocket, which is already prepared at the Vanderberg space base in California. As for Hades and EASAT-2, both are currently at the Momentus space integrator facilities in Santa Clara, also in California, and it is expected that they can be launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket in late June from Cape Canaveral, once, overcome the problems of the Momentus company, which prevented its scheduled launch in January of this year.

Source URE https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Spain

Jul 16 2020

SpaceX to launch AMSAT-EA EASAT-2 and Hades satellites

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

AMSAT-EA Hades PocketQube

Spain’s national amateur radio society URE says SpaceX expect to launch the EASAT-2 and Hades satellites in December 2020.

AMSAT-EA, the URE satellite group, is building the satellites together with the European University of Madrid. The launch has been managed through the space broker Alba Orbital based in Glasgow.

EASAT-2 and Hades will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit between 500 km and 600 km and their main function is to act as analog and digital repeaters for radio amateurs. There is also a camera for SSTV transmissions provided by the Czech Republic that has already flown on the United States Marine Academy PSAT-2 satellite, and has now been adapted to fit into the PocketQube satellites.

Both satellites are based on the PocketQube 1.5P (7.5 x 5 x 5 cm) architecture and represent an evolution of the previous GENESIS platform, whose GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N satellites are expected to fly before the end of the year with Firefly, in a joint collaboration with Fossa Systems and LibreSpace, which also launch their own satellites, all of them within the Picobus dispenser, developed by the latter.

IARU has coordinated these frequencies:
• Hades – uplink 145.925 MHz, downlink 436.888 MHz 
• EASAT-2 – uplink 145.875 MHz, downlink 436.666 MHz

IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination pages http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

Source URE https://tinyurl.com/SpainURE