Following on from the brief notes provided earlier, AMSAT-UK now have been given exclusive access to the full SSETI Express Phase E 400-800 THz Downlink Report. This report provides a clear insight into the work carried out during their recent campaign and to methods and equipment used.
It is worthy of note that ten years ago there was only one radio amateur in the launch team and that, since then, four of the other five team members have now obtained their licences.
Year 11 students have been spending a week’s work experience at Goonhilly Earth Station learning about radio and satellite receivers. They researched and built a low-cost receiver using the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Software Defined Radio.
Watch the video How to listen to the International Space Station
SSETI Express XO-53 streaks across the dark Swedish sky on October 27, 2015. Two images combined, and zoomed. As you can see, they caught a flare. The gap in the middle is when the mirror of the camera was moving in between shots. The two stars marked are the upper two of The Plough.
The XO-53 (SSETI Express) satellite was launched October 27, 2005 at 06:52 UT on board a Kosmos 3M rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in central Russia.
SSETI Express XO-53
SSETI Express was developed by the Education Office of the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of the “Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative”. The satellite measures 60x60x70 cm with a mass of about 50 kg. It was built by university students from a number of teams from all across Europe and assembled at the ESA ESTEC facility in the Netherlands.
AMSAT-UK provided a 3 watt S band transmitter to the project – on the basis that it could be linked to the UHF receiver for operation as a single channel FM voice transponder when all the experiments have been completed. The unit also incorporates its own switch mode power supply and a 38k4 TNC to allow the rapid downlinking of data – especially necessary for the camera experiment.
Shortly after launch SSETI deployed three CubeSats, XI-V, UWE-1 and Ncube-2, developed by university students. After deploying the CubeSats, XO-53’s batteries stopped charging and the spacecraft went silent.
Explanation of SSETI Express observed flare in terms of the two images captured Oct. 27, 2015 Note team couldn’t use mirror lock-up in combination with the specific remote, hence wobble
UKube-1 in flight configuration in the cleanroom at Clyde Space Ltd – Credit Steve Greenland 2M0SCG
UKube-1, the UK Space Agency’s first national spacecraft, has now completed its nominal mission following over 14 months of operations. Discussion is underway with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1 operations to continue its educational and outreach activities.
UKube-1 CubeSat installed in Deployment Pod
Launched in July 2014, UKube-1 is a technology demonstration mission with a broad set of objectives aimed at attracting and training future generations of engineers, encouraging collaboration across sectors and institutions, fast tracking space technology development and engaging with students.
As a 3 unit CubeSat (30x30x10cm), flying 4 main payloads, with all the key subsystems of much larger satellites, UKube-1 remains one of the most advanced CubeSats ever built. Despite some technical challenges in orbit, the mission has achieved a range of milestones including:
• delivery into the correct planned orbit (around 650km, sun-synchronous)
• successful deployment of solar panels and antenna
• good battery health
• slow spin rate measured
• uplink and downlink capabilities checked, including Large Data Transfer, downlink at 3 speeds, and redundant communications mode
• all core payloads commissioned and data collected for each
• on-board camera technology successfully tested
• data downlinked from multiple ground stations across the globe
UKube-1 has also helped maintain the UK’s leading position in the CubeSat sector. Participation in the mission placed Clyde Space in an excellent position to capitalise on the fast growing global nanosatellite market. The company has experienced 100% year on year growth, both in turnover and employees, as a direct result from involvement in UKube-1, and is firmly established as a global leader.
Andy Strain and Steve Greenland 2M0SCG in Kazakhstan with UKube-1 and Deployment Pod
Mark McCrum, Bright Ascension Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 provided us with an invaluable opportunity to gain flight heritage for our software technology and to get deeply involved in the operation of a complex CubeSat mission. It gave a huge boost to our credibility as a space software provider and has been instrumental in winning further work.”
Craig Clark, CEO Clyde Space Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 represents a pivotal achievement in the development and growth of Clyde Space. The project moved the company from being a spacecraft subsystems supplier to providing full missions for our customers. To give some context to the extent that Ukube-1 has had to our business, Clyde Space has more than quadrupled in size in the last 3 years and there are currently over 60 CubeSats planned through production here in Glasgow over the next 18 months. The return on investment for Ukube-1 in terms of jobs and export sales for the UK has been outstanding and is a great example of industry and the UK Space Agency working together to put the UK at the forefront of global space technology.”
Professor Andrew Holland, Open University, added:
“Involvement in the UKube-1 mission, though our C3D instrument, has had a positive effect on our research and technology programme within the Space Instrumentation Group at the Open University, as well as a positive effect on our technology partners in the project; XCAM Ltd and e2v Ltd. The project has helped the OU to build a new strand of instrument development within the group, raised awareness of the CubeSat platform as a potential vehicle to accelerate the development of scientific space instrumentation, and has provided early in-orbit-demonstration of technologies. The mission introduced us to new academic and industrial collaborators operating in the space sector and supported the career development of the young engineers and scientists working on the project.”
Dr Helen Walker at the AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium – Credit DK3WN
STFC’s RAL Space provided the Ground Station for the misison at Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire UK, and UKube-1 operations were commanded from there. Mission Manager Dr Helen Walker said:
“It has been a very exciting time, made possible only with the great support from all the teams involved.”
Although the Agency-supported mission phase has ended, discussion is underway with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1 operations to continue its educational and outreach activities until the satellite orbit naturally degrades.
UKube-1 carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards which provide an educational beacon for use by schools and a linear transponder for amateur radio communications.
Delegates at the ITU Radiocommunication Assembly October 26, 2015
The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-15) has opened in Geneva ahead of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) which commences next week.
The Radiocommunication Assembly, which is responsible for the structure, programme and approval of radiocommunication studies, runs from October 26-30 followed by WRC-15 from November 2-27.
There are a number of agenda items for WRC-15 which may impact amateur radio, among them are:
• Agenda Item 1.1 – Additional allocations for Mobile (IMT) services and applications
• Agenda Item 1.4 Amateur service, on a secondary basis, in the 5250–5450 kHz band
• Agenda Item 1.10 – Additional mobile satellite IMT allocations in the 22-26 GHz range
• Agenda Item 1.18 – Radar for automotive applications in 77.5-78.0 GHz
• Agenda Item 9.1, issue 9.1.8 – Regulatory aspects for nano and pico-satellites
Aleksander Lidtke at 2014 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium – Image DK3WN
The University of Southampton is developing its own CubeSat with a view to obtaining a free launch on the VEGA launch vehicle.
University of Southampton Small Satellite is a group of students, primarily from a physics background, who aim to get a fully functional satellite into space, possibly by the end of 2016. Over a number of years they have designed the structure, the power, attitude control and the onboard processing and work is continuing on the development and integration of these subsystems into a full operational system.
Following on from the brief notes provided earlier, AMSAT-UK now have been given exclusive access to the full SSETI Express Phase E 400-800 THz Downlink Report. This report provides a clear insight into the work carried out during their recent campaign and to methods and equipment used.
AMSAT-UK 
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