Tag Archives: Microsatellite

Feb 17 2012

Vega Launch Success – Satellite Signals Heard

Lift off of Vega

Lift off of Vega - Image Credit ESA

The first Vega, flight VV01, lifted off at 1000 UT Monday, February 13 from the ESA Spaceport at Kourou in the Caribbean carrying eight student built amateur radio satellites and the LARES Laser Relativity Satellite into orbit.

LARES was put into a 1435 by 1452 km 69.5 degree inclination orbit, while the orbit of the amateur radio satellites is 310 by 1441 km.

At 1153 UT Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA reported hearing signals from the satellites as they went past Florida. Signals were first heard in the United Kingdom at around 1207 UT.

In Germany Mike Repprecht DK3WN copied the satellites at an elevation of just 3 degress at 1209 UT, see http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?cat=83

A recording of PW-Sat made by Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG at 1207 UT can be heard at http://www.pa3weg.nl/pa3weg/recordings/PW-SAT%20recording%20PA3WEG%2013-02-2012_1207UTC.mp3

In the Czech Republic Mirek Kasal OK2AQ received strong signals from Masat-1 http://www.urel.feec.vutbr.cz/esl/files/Othact/masat1_rev5.wav

Nittin Muttin VU3TYG received PW-Sat at 1246 UT as it travelled over India, his recording is at http://vu3tyg.addr.com/pwsat/pw_sat-%20Feb%2013th.mp3

In Sudan Nader ST2NH received signals from AlmaSat-1 and Masat-1.

KO4MA Screenshot of Vega CubeSats

KO4MA Screenshot of Vega CubeSats

As of Monday evening signals had been reported from AlmaSat-1, Goliat, Masat-1, PW-Sat, UniCubeSat and XaTcobeo.

All the Vega amateur radio satellite project teams used the IARU amateur satellite frequency coordination panel service. A benefit of IARU coordination was that all the different UHF satellite signals could be simultaneously captured within the typical 192 kHz bandwidth of a modern Software Defined Radio (SDR).

PW-Sat is the only satellite with a downlink in the 145 MHz band. Its 1200bps BPSK signal on 145.900 MHz is receiveable with an SSB radio and an omni-directional antenna.

When PW-Sat has finished its primary scientific mission it will be reconfigured as a 435/145 MHz FM to DSB transponder for general amateur radio communications. The FM to Double Sideband transponder was first pioneered by amateurs on the satellite AO-16.

PW-Sat carries a deployable drag augmentation device known as the tail. The main objective of this experiment is to test the concept of using atmospheric drag to deorbit the satellite. It is hoped to be able to remove the satellite from orbit at a predicted time, about one year after launch.

The other amateur radio satellites have downlinks in 437 MHz. A small 430 MHz  band Yagi antenna may be used to receive the signals. They are expected to have a lifetime of 3-4 years depending on the atmospheric drag which is higher at sunspot maximum.

Watch the launch of Vega VV01

The Masat-1 satellite team have made available software to decode their 437.345 MHz telemetry data via a PC sound card. The software can be downloaded from http://cubesat.bme.hu/en/foldi-allomas/kliens-szoftver/

This video shows the eliptical 310 by 1441 km orbit of the satellites.

The prelimary TLEs, used by tracking software to predict the orbits, were generated by a team lead by Paolo Tortora at the University of Bologna in Italy. They proved to be accurate with the satellites appearing at the expected time.

Student amateur radio satellite downlink frequencies:
(Worst case Doppler shift during pass +/-9 kHz at 437 MHz and +/- 3 kHz at 145 MHz)
+ AlmaSat-1   437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK, 2407.850 MHz
+ E-St@r        437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK
+ Goliat          437.485 MHz 1200 bpx AFSK
+ Masat-1      437.345 MHz 625/1250 bps GFSK, CW
+ PW-Sat       145.900 MHz 1200 bps BPSK AX25, CW
+ Robusta      437.325 MHz? (website says now 437.350 MHz) 1200 bps FM telemetry – one data burst of 20 secs every 1 min
+ UniCubeSat 437.305 MHz 9600 bps FSK
+ XaTcobeo     437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25

Satscape Free Satellite Tracking Software http://www.satscape.info/home/?q=node/2 

Preliminary Vega TLE’s for launch at 1000 UT here

Website URLs for the student satellite are at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

ESA report Student CubeSats start talking to Earth

IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel hosted by AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/

Feb 11 2012

Student Satellite Launch To Be Broadcast Live

Artists impression of Vega launch

Artists impression of Vega launch

The launch of eight student amateur radio satellites from the space center at Kourou in the Caribbean will be broadcast live on the Internet.

The launch should take place between 1000-1300 UT on Monday, February 13 and you’ll be able to watch it at http://www.videocorner.tv/

The student teams have requested reception reports. During the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) Monday, listeners are encouraged to gather at the IRC “cubesat” channel to exchange all the latest available information. Simply point your browser to http://webchat.freenode.net/ and join the #cubesat channel. In the Nickname: field enter “name_callsign” and in the Channels: field enter #cubesat

Preliminary Vega TLE’s for launch at 1000, 1100 or 1200 UT here

Assuming a 1000 UT launch the satellites should deploy their antennas and start transmitting at about 1140 UT. It looks like the first to get reception will be Central America followed quickly by a pass up the East coast of North America. The first pass for the United Kingdom should be a horizon skimmer across the NW at around 1207 UT.

Student amateur radio satellite downlink frequencies:
+ AlmaSat-1   437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK, 2407.850 MHz
+ E-St@r        437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK
+ Goliat          437.485 MHz 1200 bpx AFSK
+ Masat-1      437.345 MHz 625/1250 bps GFSK, CW
+ PW-Sat       145.900 MHz 1200 bps BPSK AX25, CW
+ Robusta      437.325 MHz 1200 bps FM telemetry – one data burst of 20 secs every 1 min
+ UniCubeSat 437.305 MHz 9600 bps FSK
+ XaTcobeo     437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25

Masat-1 telemetry decode software http://www.uk.amsat.org/4385

URLs for the student satellite websites are at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

Vega Elliptical Orbit Video http://www.uk.amsat.org/4119

Satscape Free Satellite Tracking Software http://www.satscape.info/home/?q=node/2 

N2YO Real Time Satellite Tracking http://www.n2yo.com/

Feb 7 2012

Video about the Vega satellites

The first qualification Vega flight from the space center at Kourou in the Caribbean is scheduled to take place on February 13 and a video showing the payloads is now available.

Watch Arianespace

Frequencies and URLs for the student amateur radio satellites can be seen at http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

Feb 5 2012

Vega Launch on February 13 with Eight Amateur Band CubeSats

Artists impression of Vega launch

Artists impression of Vega launch

Vega is now scheduled to launch on Monday, February 13, at 1000 UT with eight student built amateur radio satellites. The launcher will first deploy the main payload, the LARES the Laser relativity Spacecraft and will then make an additional firing of the final AVUM stage before deploying the secondary CubeSat and Microsatellite payloads.

The planned timing for these deployments are as follows:

= T0+ 4245.30secs first PPOD, with (in order of ejection) XatCobeo, e-st@r, and Goliat
= T0+ 4255.30secs second PPOD, with (in order of ejection) Robusta, MaSat-1 and  PW-Sat
= T0+ 4265.30secs third PPOD, with UniCubeSat only (These Cubesats will not deploy their antennas until >1800 seconds after they leave their PODS.)
= T0+ 4275.30secs  AlmaSat-1 – it is not known how soon this spacecraft will start transmitting after deployment

Frequencies for the satellites on the Vega Launch are:

+ ALMASat-1 – University of Bologna, Italy 437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK and 2407.850 MHz

+ Xatcobeo (a collaboration of the University of Vigo and INTA, Spain) to demonstrate software-defined radio and solar panel deployment. 437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25 and 145.940 MHz SSR

+ Robusta (University of Montpellier 2, France) to test and evaluate radiation effects (low dose rate) on bipolar transistor electronic components. 437.325 MHz 1200 bps FM telemetry with one data burst of 20 seconds every 3 minutes.

+ e-st@r (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) to demonstration of an active 3-axis Attitude Determination and Control system including an inertial measurement unit. 437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK.

+ Goliat (University of Bucharest, Romania) to provide imaging of the Earth surface using a digital camera and in-situ measurement of radiation dose and micrometeoroid flux. 437.485 MHz 1200 bps AFSK.

+ PW-Sat (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland) to test a deployable atmospheric drag augmentation device for de-orbiting CubeSats. PW-Sat carries an FM to DSB amateur radio transponder with an FM input on 435.020 MHz and DSB output on 145.900 MHz. There are 5 modes of operation:
– Receive only – no downlink
– CW Beacon CW – On-Off Keying (OOK) CW 12 WPM 435.020 MHz
– BPSK Beacon – BPSK 1200 bps AX25 (1 frame on 20 sec) 435.020 MHz
– Control communication mode. Downlink BPSK 1200 bps AX25 435.020 MHz
– Voice Repeater mode (aka “AO-16 mode) – uplink 435.020 MHz FM and downlink 145.900 MHz DSB

+ MaSat-1 (Budapest University of Technology and Economics): to demonstrate various spacecraft avionics, including a power conditioning system, transceiver and on-board data handling. 437.345 MHz GFSK 625/1250 bps, CW. See the related article in these bulletins describing the downloadable GFSK demodulator software.

+ UniCubeSat GG – (University of Rome): The UNICubeSat mission goal is the in-situ measurement of atmospheric density. Downlink frequencies are 437.305 MHz or 437.345 MHz 9k6 FSK.

Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL provides complete coverage of the Vega launch on his ‘ESA CubeSats Update’ web pages. You’ll find an overview of each of the satellite missions, frequencies, modulation/protocols, and links to the developers home web pages posted at: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/esa9cubf.htm

AMSAT-UK covers the Vega launch at: http://www.uk.amsat.org/4180

An ESA time-lapse showing the full assembly of the first Vega launcher at the launch pad at the ESA Spaceport in Kourou is posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUMSLU0aig

The student teams have requested reception reports. All observers are being encouraged to join the CubeSat IRC chat channel to pass on their news and comments in realtime. You will need an IRC client such as ChatZilla or mIRC to join the cubesat chat. Use the irc.freenode.net server. Then join the #cubesat channel. Many users set their chat nickname to “name_callsign”.

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

AMSAT News Service (ANS)

Feb 5 2012

SO-67 amateur radio operation may resume soon

Sumbandilasat SO-67

Sumbandilasat SO-67

Ingenuity and innovation by the SumbandilaSat (SO-67) ground control team has resulted in bringing the satellite back to life with a real possibility that Amateur Radio communication may resume next month while the satellite is in sunlight.

The ground stations at SANSA Space operations at Hartbeeshoek and the Electronic Systems Laboratory at Stellenbosch University are receiving telemetry when the satellite’s solar panels are illuminated by the sun.

The ground stations at SANSA Space operations at Hartbeeshoek and the Electronic Systems Laboratory at Stellenbosch University are receiving telemetry when the satellite’s solar panels are illuminated by the sun.

Johann Lochner, ZR1CBC, said that in early June 2011, for an unknown  eason (but probably related to a major radiation event on 7 June), the primary controller on the power distribution unit (PDU) powering the On-Board Computer (OBC) stopped responding to commands from the ground station.

It later appeared that the battery had failed and nothing was heard from the satellite for some time. The ground segment software to monitor the passes over South Africa and to contact the satellite to initiate the recovery procedure was automated. After a month contact was made again.

This was mid November. “We set in place a planned recovery procedure and within 3-4 days we came to the conclusion that the main battery had failed”, Johann said. With SumbandilaSat responding when it is in full sunlight Johan Lochner is confident that some operations will be restored even to the point where it may be possible to do some imaging and have the amateur radio transponder back in operation.

More on recovery efforts are on line at www.amsatsa.org.za

SumbandilaSat (SO-67) carries an amateur radio voice beacon, parrot repeater and VHF/UHF FM repeater. The frequencies are:
Uplink: 145.875 MHz FM
Downlink: 435.345 MHz FM
Activation tones: 233.6 Hz
Parrot: 218.1 Hz

January defenseWeb story ‘SumbandilaSat beyond repair’ http://www.uk.amsat.org/4076

The Sounds of SO-67 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2010/
sounds_of_so67.htm

Satellite Pass Predictions http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/

John Heath G7HIA’s article  ‘Getting started on amateur radio satellites’ can be downloaded from http://www.uk.amsat.org/267

AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB) http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/

Jan 31 2012

Student High-Voltage Satellite Horyu-2

Horyu-2 Structural Thermal Model

Horyu-2 Structural Thermal Model

The student built amateur radio microsatellite, Horyu-2, featuring a High Voltage (300v) Solar Array experiment and an onboard camera is planned to launch on an H-2A rocket in the Summer.

Built by students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) HORYU-2 is 350 * 310 * 315 mm and mass is 7.1 kg. It will be launched into a Sun-Synchronous 680 km orbit with an inclination of 98.2°. The TLE’s for tracking are available at http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/Documents/ground_station/TLE.txt

The satellite’s callsign is JG6YBW and radio amateurs are asked to listen for the 437.375 MHz  (+/- 9 kHz Doppler shift) Morse Code or 1200 bps AX.25 GMSK telemetry downlink.

There will be a monthly competition for those who send data received from the telemetry to the KIT server, via the HORYU-2 telemetry analysis software.

The free HORYU-2 telemetry software and details of the competition can be downloaded from
http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/Documents/information_launch_english.html

Among the experiments to be carried out are:

300V power generation in LEO
In recent years, satellite size and power keep increasing. For large space platforms such as a space station, it is necessary to generate and transmit the power at a high voltage to minimize the Joule heating loss or the increase in the cable mass. It has been known that in LEO a solar array with a negative potential of 100 to 200V with respect to the plasma can suffer electrostatic discharge. Because of this, ISS power system was limited to 160V generation and 120V transmission. Generally speaking the transmission power is proportional to the square of the voltage. For a large space platform which requires 1MW-class power, such as a space hotel or a space factory, power generation at a voltage of 300 to 400V is required. The present HORYU-2 mission, 300V power generation in space without any discharge, is the first space environment test of the new technology that will be strongly demanded in near future. Also, as the satellite power employs higher voltage, there will be more demand for spacecraft charging mitigation

Demonstration of COTS surface potential meter in space (Trek)
This mission demonstrates a surface potential meter in space. The potential meter has been developed by TREK, Inc. aiming for terrestrial commercial application. It is a contact type potential meter with extremely large input impedance so that the contact does not affect the charging state of the specimen. KIT is currently working with TREK, Inc. to convert the potential meter for extreme environments such as space or plasma processing chamber. The in-orbit demonstration is a part of the joint research program. To put the COTS device on HORYU-2, the electronics board and the consumed power have been reduced significantly.

When HORYU-2 passes through the aurora zone, differential charging may develop between the insulator surface and the satellite chassis. The potential meter will measure the potential of the insulator that is the same material to be used for SCM. The two measurements are compared to validate against each other.

Debris observation with debris sensor
This mission aims at detecting the micro-debris impact on the surface of HORYU-2. Space debris has become a serious threat to satellites in orbit. Observation of micro debris less than 1mm has been very difficult. The debris sensor consists of many conductive thin wired laid down in parallel in the area of 8×8 cm. Upon impact, some of the lines are cut and the resistance becomes infinite.

Taking photographs of the Earth
This mission aims at taking the pictures of the Earth using a small CMOS camera. The camera called SCAMP (Surrey Camera Payload). It was developed by University of Surrey, a sister university of KIT. SCAMP takes a picture in a JPEG format of 640×480. From 700km altitude, one pixel corresponds to 1.6km.

Horyu website in Google English http://tinyurl.com/HoryuSatellite

Development of High Voltage Technology Demonstration Satellite, HORYU-2
http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/Documents/Nano-satellite-symposium-Final-paper_nishimura.pdf