Japanese CubeSats Deployed from ISS

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Three Japanese CubeSats were deployed from the ISS using the Japanese J-SSOD on October 10, 2025. Two of the satellites transmit in the amateur radio bands.

e-kagaku-1

CW, DigiTalker, 1.2kbps AFSK, 9.6kbps GMSK  145.840MHz

More Information - https://ekagaku-sat.net/
https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=888

BOTAN

  • APRS 145.825MHz

  • Digital 437.375MHz

More Information - https://sites.google.com/p.chibakoudai.jp/gardens-04/
https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=938

CubeSats to Deploy from ISS on 19 September 2025

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CubeSats to Deploy from ISS on 19 September 2025

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, has announced that five Japanese CubeSats will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on September 19 (though the date and time of the deployment are subject to change due to the ISS schedule modification). The deployment event for those satellites will be broadcast via YouTube JAXA Channel. Four of the CubeSats, carrying scientific and educational payloads, will operate in the amateur bands, and radio amateurs around the world are invited to participate in the projects:

GHS-01 is a 2U size CubeSat equipped with a camera for photographing the earth, a sensor for checking the state of the satellite, and an attitude control device. In response to commands from the ground station, the satellite-mounted camera photographs the earth from space and transmits the image data to the ground. In order for amateur radio users around the world to voluntarily acquire image data taken by this satellite by radio, the date and time of image transmission will be published on the website https://gifuhs2022.wordpress.com/. Also, the satellite carries a digitalker mission. Audio data is transmitted from a ground station and stored in the satellite. The voice data is transmitted from the satellite as an analog FM voice signal, and a message is broadcast from space. The date and time the message will be sent will be published on the website. The satellite was built by Gifu University with technical cooperation for using satellite radio waves with sister schools of universities and high schools such as Lithuania, Australia, Kenya, South Korea, and Taiwan. A downlink on 437.090 MHz has been coordinated with 20 wpm CW, 1k2 AFSK, 9k6 GMSK and digitalker voice.

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US Legacy Weather Satellites Being Decommissioned

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The remaining older satellites in a constellation identified earlier this year as being in end-of-life status, are now being decommissioned by the US government. 

As the US government had announced previously, the remaining satellites in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's legacy constellation of Polar Operational Environmental Studies are in the process of being decommissioned. The POES system satellite known as NOAA-15 was to be taken out of service on the 12th of August and another, NOAA-19, on the 19th of the month. Earlier this year, both were declared in the End of Life stage, along with a third constellation satellite, NOAA-18, which was decommissioned in June. For years, these satellites were relied upon by many for vital weather data via their 137 MHz APT transmissions, providing data used in monitoring the environment, forest fires, volcanic eruptions and global vegetation.

“Direct users should make plans to discontinue use of POES data.”
— NOAA

Although previous reports said that the satellites' transmissions would continue, an article on the RTL-SDR website said that the transmitters will be turned off. The end-of-life status means they are no longer eligible for repair or recovery efforts and NOAA advises that they should not be considered reliable sources of information for critical or emergency purposes. None of the satellites are scheduled for deorbiting.