Alaska Launch for Unicorn-2A PocketQube

UK-built PocketQube satellite, Unicorn-2A, developed by radio amateurs at Glasgow’s Alba Orbital, will launch later in 2018 from Alaska.

Three radio amateurs at Alba Orbital worked on Unicorn-2A, which will have downlinks in the 437 MHz and 2400 MHz bands. One of the transmission modes will be LoRa, a patented wireless communication technology. A 3rd quarter 2018 launch is planned on a Vector Launch Inc. rocket from Kodiak, Alaska, into a 350 × 350 kilometer 98° orbit. The mission will last about 45 days.

A Dutch PocketQube, Delfi-PQ, downlink 436.650 MHz, is expected to be a fellow passenger on the launch. Alba Orbital is collaborating with the University of Aachen in Germany and its Amateur Radio group DL0FHA to trial Unicorn-2A operations and act as a backup, to help students to learn about communication with a real mission.

Brown University CubeSat Now in Space

EQUiSat satellite built by students at Brown University in Rhode Island has been launched to the International Space Station

On the small satellite are LED lights. These lights will be so bright that they will be able to seen blinking from Earth while the satellite is passing more than 400 km overhead. They will be as bright as the north star, according to Manav Kohlie, a Brown University student.

Once it is deployed from the Space Station this summer, EQUiSat will use the Earth's magnetic field to orient itself so the LED lights face Rhode Island.

It will transmit a CW beacon and 4FSK 9k6 telemetry on 435.550 MHz.

EQUiSat’s Communication System - http://brownspace.org/radio/

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

Bulgarian First CubeSat Deployed from ISS

Bulgaria's first CubeSat, EnduroSat One, was launched to the International Space Station on the cargo resupply OA-9 mission during May 2018 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, USA  

On 24th May 2018 the Cygnus capsule docked to the Station and the satellite was taken on board the ISS and will be deployed in the coming weeks.

The mission aims to popularize the Radio Amateur activities in Bulgaria and it will include cooperation with Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs (BFRA), including workshops and additional educational activities.

The spacecraft has been completely built in Bulgaria. This first educational mission aims to inspire young Bulgarians and give them the chance to participate in a real space program!

The Space Challenges and EnduroSat teams have invested considerable resources, time and effort in preparing the Bulgarian CubeSat. In order to support the Radio Amateur community, the satellite emits in frequencies which are readily available for receiving by anyone with basic communication skills and radio equipment.

It is hoped the mission will help more young Bulgarians learn the basics of satellite communications through practical exercises empowered by the orbiting satellite.

Radio amateurs from around the Globe will be able to listen to the satellite beacon and to receive telemetry data from the satellite on a regular basis. They will be able to connect to the satellite, receive detailed telemetry information and receive a confirmation from the satellite for every established connection which will serve as QSL card.

Beacon: 437.050 MHz CW and 9600 bps GMSK AX.25

EnduroSat - http://one.endurosat.com/