Tag Archives: ISS

May 12 2017

QB50 CubeSats to deploy from ISS

QB50 ISS LogoThe first phase of QB50 CubeSats should be deployed from the International Space Station over three days May 16-18, 2017.

Download QB50 ISS CubeSats Deployment and Radio Information PDF

Update May 16: 
3rd deployment 0145 GMT May 17
7th deployment 0825 GMT May 18

Built by university students and research organisations from 23 countries around the world, the QB50 constellation aims to study the lower thermosphere 200-380 km above the Earth.

There are 28 QB50 CubeSats on the ISS awaiting deployment and it is understood that 11 will be deployed in this first phase. The beacons should be activated about 30 minutes after deployment.

The QB50 CubeSats have downlinks between 435.8 and 438 MHz and reports from radio amateurs are most welcome. Beacon data received can be uploaded to a dedicated QB50 webpage at
https://upload.qb50.eu/

Two of the ISS QB50 CubeSats, ON01FR 437.020 MHz and ON05FR 436.880 MHz, carry V/U FM transponders. The uplink frequency for both is 145.860 MHz with 210.7 Hz CTCSS, see http://site.amsat-f.org/2017/05/12/qb50-document-de-description-des-telemesures-des-satellites-on01fr-on05fr/

QB50 Revised Deployment TimesList of QB50 CubeSats with Beacon format and frequency information
https://upload.qb50.eu/listCubeSat/

Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ for new satellites launched in past 30 days
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

QB50 project https://www.qb50.eu/
https://twitter.com/QB50Mission

On the deployment days radio amateurs and QB50 teams will be on the #CubeSat IRC channel. Join the deployment chat at http://irc.lc/freenode/cubesat

Don’t have a suitable 435-438 MHz receiver? Try listening online with the SUWS WebSDR located near London http://websdr.suws.org.uk/

On June 19, 2014 two precursor QB50 CubeSats were launched, QB50p1 and QB50p2, which carried amateur radio transponders
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/06/19/successful-launch-of-amateur-radio-satellite-payloads/

Apr 21 2017

Israeli High School Students Build CubeSat

28 QB50 CubeSats were launched to ISS on April 18, a further 8 are to launch on a PSLV in May

28 QB50 CubeSats were launched to ISS on April 18, a further 8 are to launch on a PSLV in May

Over 80 Israeli high school students have built a CubeSat called Duchifat-2 as part of the QB50 Thermosphere research program.

Duchifat-2 is one of 28 QB50 CubeSats from 23 countries launched on April 18, 2017 to the International Space Station (ISS) from where they shall be placed into orbit in six weeks time.

QB50 ISS LogoSpace Watch reports:

Duchifat-2 and its companion CubeSats will measure the plasma density of the Thermosphere between 85km and 300km altitude above the Earth’s surface. Israeli students will study the data from the CubeSats at the Herzliya Science Centre, where signals from the orbiting satellites will be received.

Israeli Minister for Science, Technology, and Space, Ofir Akunis, said in a government statement that, “Duchifat-2 is not only an educational venture that brings space closer to youth and lays the way for tomorrow’s generation, it is also an international research project. This is Israeli pride for the future generation, and an opportunity to increase public awareness about space.”

Read the full story at
https://spacewatchme.com/2017/04/israeli-high-school-students-build-duchifat-2-cubesat/

Times of Israel
http://www.timesofisrael.com/nanosatellite-built-by-israeli-high-schoolers-blasts-into-space/

A further eight QB50 CubeSats are planned to launch in May on an Indian PSLV rocket into a 500 km orbit.

All the CubeSats in the QB50 project will mainly operate on frequencies in the 2 m and 70 cm amateur bands. To avoid interference to terrestrial amateur radio activity the frequency was coordinated by the IARU Satellite Adviser and advisory panel http://amsat.org.uk/iaru

QB50 project https://www.qb50.eu/

JE9PEL QB50 CubeSat Frequency Spreadsheet
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/11/08/je9pel-qb50-cubesat-spreadsheet/

Apr 15 2017

South African QB50 CubeSats

CubeSats being deployed from the ISS on February 11, 2014

CubeSats being deployed from the ISS on February 11, 2014

Two South African built satellites are about to be launched to the International Space Station as part of the QB50 project.

SARL News reports:

The South African satellite industry is taking another step forward as a player in the international space arena with the launch of two South African built nanosatellites from Cape Canaveral in Florida USA.

Two CubeSats, ‘nSight1’ (QB50 AZ02) designed and manufactured by Cape Town-based SCS Space, a member of the SCS Aerospace Group and ‘ZA-Aerosat’ (QB50 AZ01) designed and manufactured by CubeSpace of the Stellenbosch University, are to be launched as part of a batch totaling 28 CubeSats from 23 different countries

The launch is set for April 18, 2017 at 15:11 GMT. Their initial destination is the International Space Station (ISS), where they will be unloaded by the ISS crew with the help of robotic arms. The satellites will eventually be deployed into low-earth orbit over a period of 30 to 60 days as the ISS orbits the Earth.

Both the South African satellites are part of the QB50 project funded by the European Union and managed by the von Karman Institute to conduct research in the lower thermosphere between 200 to 380 km altitude. The data collected from this experiment over a period of 18 months will be used to complement current atmospheric models especially applicable to re-entry trajectories of spacecraft. All CubeSats will eventually burn up at the end of their operational lifetimes.

All the CubeSats in the QB50 project will mainly operate on frequencies in the 2 m and 70 cm amateur bands. To avoid interference to terrestrial amateur radio activity the frequency was coordinated by the IARU Satellite Adviser and his advisory panel http://amsat.org.uk/iaru

QB50 project https://www.qb50.eu/

JE9PEL QB50 CubeSat Frequency Spreadsheet
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/11/08/je9pel-qb50-cubesat-spreadsheet/

Apr 15 2017

ISS Packet Digipeater Back On 145.825 MHz FM

International Space Station – Image Credit NASA

ARISS is pleased to announce that Packet Radio from the International Space Station is back on 145.825 MHz FM.

A few months back, the ARISS Team did the foot work and paperwork to launch the final copy of the Ericsson VHF handheld radio to the ISS.  This work was began in October after the unit onboard the ISS failed.  ARISS has been using the Ericssons for 16 years. In the last days of February, the launch vehicle, SpaceX 10’s Dragon, flew to the ISS.  Then the ISS crew had the odious job of unloading and unpacking 5,500 pounds of cargo along with the Ericsson HT.

ARISS got word this morning that we now have VHF capability back in the Columbus module.  Followers of ISS Fan Club have already posted that they’ve heard and used packet, and are thrilled.

In 2015, ARISS began its first fundraising campaigns.  It relies on NASA, ARRL, AMSAT and individual donors, along with ARISS volunteers to pay the day-to-day operations expenses and everything related to the hardware, testing, and certification.  Donors can go to http://www.amsat.org and http://www.ariss.org to support the program.

EMike McCardel, AA8EM
Rotating Editor AMSAT News Service

Almost any 144 MHz FM rig will receive the ISS, you can even use a general coverage VHF scanner with an external antenna. As far as the antenna is concerned the simpler the better. A ¼ wave ground plane has a high angle of radiation and works well. Large 144 MHz colinears are not as good because the radiation pattern is concentrated at the horizon while the ISS is above 15 degrees elevation for most of a pass.

You can receive the ISS outdoors using a 144 MHz hand-held with its helical antenna but a 1/4 wave whip will give far better results.

In the UK we use narrow 2.5 kHz deviation FM but the ISS transmits using the wider 5 kHz deviation used in much of the world. Most rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation filters so select the wider deviation. Hand-held rigs all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

How to work the ISS using APRS Packet Radio
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-the-iss-on-aprs-packet-radio/

Mar 28 2017

ITF-2 (YUI-2) Satellite Update

ITF-2 Yui ProjectAtsushi Yasuda JI1OEH reports the ITF-2 (YUI-2) CubeSat entered normal operation phase on March 25 JST, it was deployed from the ISS on January 16, 2017.

Update: ITF-2 was giving the OSCAR number Tsukuba-OSCAR 89 (TO-89).

Telemetry information and messages will be transmitted in this phase for the achievement of main mission.

The details of AWARD and SWL cards are:

AWARD：
With reference to the message on January 15 UTC, the First 100 Reports from overseas stations are qualified for this award. Only ten overseas stations sent report so far. Still enough award can be issued. Additionally, a souvenir, a sticky screen cleaner, will be given with this award.

The design motif is the small antenna of ITF-2
https://twitter.com/yui_tsukuba/status/841096655046758400

ITF-2 Flight Model

ITF-2 Flight Model

SWL cards:
Five designs are prepared. The stations which report more than five times can receive all designs. Also, the specially designed card will be presented to the stations which received a signal from the small antenna, because the reports are valuable to demonstrate the antenna in space. So far, two stations succeeded in the reception.

Designs of SWL cards
https://twitter.com/yui_tsukuba/status/846219342190555136

Further special events are planned for the promotion of receptions by more stations. This will be announced later.

There were some reception reports by very simple equipment, for example, Dipole or 5/8 wave length whip with USB tuner dongle (RTL2832).

The examples are
Ex1: https://twitter.com/dspic/status/842000948834717696
Ex2: https://twitter.com/dspic/status/826823146955120640

Reception reports can be submitted at:
https://operationitf-2.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page_58.html

Operation information of ITF-2: http://operationitf-2.blogspot.jp/

Looking forward to reports from more stations.

Atsushi Yasuda, JI1OEH
University of Tsukuba Satellite project

Mar 14 2017

ARISS Closer to Launching New Radio System

International Space Station – Image Credit NASA

The ARISS team took a giant step closer to flying the new ARISS Interoperable Radio System to the International Space Station, having met a major milestone.

Lou McFadin, W5DID, and Kerry Banke, N6IZW, travelled to the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, in mid-February for preliminary testing of Banke’s breadboard version of the ARISS Multi-voltage Power Supply. The two worked alongside JSC engineers and JSC EMC lab personnel, putting the specially built power supply through its paces, checking against US and Russian space specifications for Power Quality and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) preliminary tests.

The result:  Outstanding news-the ARISS Team can move on to the next step, fabrication of prototype and flight units.  The JSC engineers disclosed that the ARISS breadboard power supply was the first hardware to have passed all of the space agencies’ tests!  They said the very professional ARISS Team certainly knew hardware development and design.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) logoARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer thanked Banke and McFadin for the multiple days spent putting the unit through the serious battery of NASA and Russian preliminary electrical tests.  Banke expressed pleasure with the results: “I was looking to come away with what we needed to move forward. We achieved that.”  He was impressed with the support he and McFadin received from the testing group, and said key players on those teams who are also ham radio operators, commented that they find equipment brought in that is supported by ham radio operators, to earn particularly good marks.  McFadin asserted that the Multi-voltage Power Supply’s fine test results are due to ARISS’s team working very well together and being very experienced.

The completed testing of the breadboard unit means McFadin can now purchase expensive space-certified parts so the final prototype/flight power supplies can be fabricated.  He and Banke now know that when the final, even more rigorous tests are done, the units will pass with flying colors.

Watch for more news stories on the hardware and the fundraising campaign to help support the costs associated with designing, building, and testing the new ARISS radio system-the Kenwood D710GA and Multi-voltage Power Supply. Those wishing to contribute toward the final fabrication and flight tests are highly appreciated and asked to go to the AMSAT website,  www.amsat.org to click on the “ARISS Donate” button.  Or visit the donation page on the ARISS website, http://www.ariss.org/donate.html

Contributions are tax deductible. Those who contribute $100 or more will receive the handsome ARISS Challenge Coin.  If you or your ham club or place of employment wish to make a highly substantial contribution, contact Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, at ka3hdo@verizon.net.

Source ARISS News Release 17-04

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO was on the Ham Talk Live podcast discussing ARISS and
the gear aboard the ISS. The link to the podcast is:
http://www.spreaker.com/user/hamtalklive/episode-55-ham-radio-on-the-iss-with-fra