AMSAT-UK is delighted to have been able to accept an opportunity to provide a FUNcube Lite payload, with a mode U/V FM transponder, for the exciting Jovian-1 satellite.

This 6U CubeSat is being designed and built by Space South Central which is the largest regional space cluster in the UK.

This is a partnership between industry and academia, designed to accelerate space business growth, grow the reputation

of the south central region of the UK and foster an environment of innovation.

A collaboration between the universities of Surrey, Portsmouth and Southampton, JUPITER – the Joint Universities Programme for In-Orbit Training, Education and Research – will equip participants with invaluable hands-on space industry experience and training for their future careers.

The FUNcube Lite payload from AMSAT-UK will collect and send telemetry from Jovian-1 sub-systems for educational outreach to schools and colleges, using the tried and tested FUNcube data format.

Telemetry will include data from the payload’s own radiation sensor, along with GPS information gathered from the satellite’s CAN bus.

These data can be used to map radiation throughout the orbit, identifying planetary radiation ‘hotspots’ such as the polar regions and the South Atlantic Anomaly. It will also give an accurate measure of how much radiation reaches the sensitive electronics within the satellite.

While Jovian-1 and its ground station at Surrey University will use commercial S and X band for primary communication,

FUNcube Lite will use frequencies in the amateur UHF and VHF spectrum.

When not sending telemetry, the payload can be configured as a mode U/V FM voice transponder for amateurs to use for international communications.

More information will be provided during the AMSAT-UK Colloquium taking place during the weekend October 12/13th https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/

Links:
Space South Central: https://www.spacesouthcentral.com/
Surrey University: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/
Portsmouth University: https://www.port.ac.uk/
Southampton University: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/

Dave Johnson, G4DPZ
Hon Sec AMSAT-UK
on behalf of the AMSAT-UK Committee & FUNcube Team