DSTAR Satellite in Space

The first-ever satellite to carry a D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) Amateur Radio payload into space is to be launch on April 22 from Guiana. 

The OUFTI-1 (Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovations) CubeSat is one of three CubeSats developed by student teams under the European Space Agency (ESA) Education Office “Fly Your Satellite!” program, which is aimed at training the next generation of aerospace professionals. The satellites arrived in South America on March 25, followed by the student teams a few days later.

The CubeSat’s frequencies are 145.950 MHz (FSK AX.25 and D-STAR down, with an uplink at 435.045 MHz. OUFTI-1 will carry a CW beacon transmitting on 145.980 MHz.

The other two CubeSats are from Italy and Denmark. The CubeSat e-st@r-II from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, will demonstrate an attitude control system using measurements of Earth’s magnetic field. It will transmit CW and 1.2 k AFSK on 437.485 MHz. AAUSAT4 from the University of Aalborg, Denmark, will operate an automated ocean vessel identification system. It will transmit on 437.425 MHz.

More information - http://qrznow.com/first-ever-d-star-satellite-to-launch-in-april/

School SSTV CubeSat to Deploy from ISS

A Slow Scan TV (SSTV) CubeSat developed by students at Saint Thomas More Cathedral School (STM) in Arlington, Virginia, was deployed from the International Space Station on March 7 between 8-10am EST 

STM is thought to be the first Elementary school to build their own satellite, which included Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade students in the project.

The satellite, called STMSat-1, will transmit an SSTV signal on 437.800 MHz.

How Did 400 Grade School Students Built A Nano-Satellite? - 
http://jewelbots.tumblr.com/post/134465599599/how-did-400-grade-school-students-built-a

STMSat-1 - http://www.stmsat-1.org/
STMSat-1 Twitter - https://twitter.com/STMSAT11
STMSat-1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/stmsat1/

ISS Danish CubeSats Deployed

Two Danish CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads were successfully deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday 5 October at 1405 UT 

Originally launched to the ISS on 19th August 2015, the two CubeSats, AAUSat-5 and GomX-3, were deployed from the ISS Japanese Kibo module airlock using the Kibo robotic arm.

After deployment the CubeSats stated transmitting signals to Earth that can be picked up by anyone with common amateur radio equipment. The frequencies to listen on are:

• AAUSat-5 – 437.425 MHz with 30 WPM CW beacon every 3 minutes and 9600 bps GMSK packet every 30 seconds
• GomX-3 – 437.250 MHz with 1200-9600 bps GMSK data using CSP protocol

AAUsat-5 is a 1-Unit CubeSat built by students at Aalborg University. The primary mission is to test an improved receiver for detecting Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals emitted by ships. Down on the ground, these signals are short-range, operating mainly on a ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship basis, leaving large spans of the world’s oceans uncovered. But signals also travel up to orbital altitude, opening up the prospect of worldwide monitoring.

GomX-3 is a 3-Unit CubeSat which aims to demonstrate new radio technology. A reconfigurable software-defined radio receiver will intercept L-band spot beams from telecom satellites in geostationary orbit, to provide independent measurements of their signal strength and quality. This receiver can also be repurposed to receive any other L-band signal, such as navigation satellite signals or radar beams.

A receiver will pick up Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) signals automatically broadcast by civilian aircraft, to build up an overview of regional air traffic.

Additionally there is a high data rate X-band transmitter developed by Syrlinks. The CNES X-band ground station in Kourou, South America, will be used to demonstrate the link.

The GomX-3 amateur radio payload uses a NanoCom AX100 UHF transceiver and ANT430 antenna.

Mineo Wakita JE9PEL in Japan reported receiving the GomX-3 beacon in Japan from 1505-1510 UT on October 5 and Luciano Fabricio PY5LF reported hearing GomX-3 in Brazil at 1605 UT. Jan van Gills PE0SAT in the Netherlands received AAUSat-5 at 1800 UT.

The two spacecraft may have a lifetime of around 7 months before they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

GomX-3 telemetry beacon - https://www.dropbox.com/s/x4mipoz9gmqhlib/GOMX3_Beacon.pdf

AAUSat-5 telemetry beacon - http://www.space.aau.dk/aausat5/index.php?n=Main.HamInfo

AMSAT-UK - http://amsat-uk.org/