FSpace, the team of young engineers and students at the FPT University who developed the amateur radio F-1 CubeSat, report on the final launch preparations for the HTV-3 cargo vessel that will carry five CubeSats to the International Space Station (ISS).

FSpace say final inspection was performed on July 9, and from July 13-15, a rehearsal was conducted simulating the launch operation. Late access cargo loading will continue until July 19 then the hatch will be closed and the H-IIB launch vehicle with the HTV-3 will be moved to the launch pad. The launch is planned for July 21 at 02:18 UT.

FSpace report that live TV coverage will be available at these URL’s:

– NASA TV HD (HD resolution, for high speed connections) http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

– NASA TV (standard resolution, for lower speed connections) http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

– Live webcam from Tanegashima launch pad (automatically updated once every few minutes)  http://space.jaxa.jp/tnsc/webcam/index_e.shtml

Read the full FSpace report at http://fspace.edu.vn/?p=716&lang=en

It is planned that the CubeSats will be deployed from the space station in September by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI using the ISS Kibo robot arm. The five CubeSats are:

+ F-1
http://fspace.edu.vn/?page_id=10
On-board camera for earth observation mission
Yaesu VX-3R 1, 437.485 MHz FM downlink:
o Solar cell power only, operates in sunlight only
o Output power: between 0.1W and 0.3W depending on illumination, half-wave dipole antenna
o Morse code beacon (10 chars) using FM CW every 30 seconds, listen here

Yaesu VX-3R 2, 145.980 MHz FM downlink:
o Rechargeable battery, operates in dark and sunlight
o Output power: max 1.0W, half-wave dipole antenna
o AFSK 1200bps, half duplex, one AX.25 packet every 60 seconds

+ We Wish
http://www.meisei.co.jp/news/2011/0617_622.html
Infrared camera for environmental studies
Downlink on 437.505 MHz

+ FITSat 1
http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml
High-speed data test, high power LED visual tracking
CW Beacon 437.250 MHz,
FM Data   437.445 MHz,
High speed data 5840.00 MHz.

+ TechEdSat
http://ncasst.org/techedsat.html
http://www.uk.amsat.org/5018
Downlink on 437.465 MHz

+ Raiko – the only non-amateur radio CubeSat
http://tinyurl.com/RAIKO-CubeSat (Google English)
2U CubeSat, photography, Ku-band beacon

A video depicting the planned deployment of the F-1 CubeSat, callsign XV1VN, from the ISS can be seen at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8446

F-1 CubeSat Blog on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/116436068290/

FSpace Team with home made antennas for NOAA weather satellite reception