AMSAT-NA Announces New Fox Satellite Launch in 2015

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fox antennas extended
Fox-1C

AMSAT is excited to announce a launch opportunity for the Fox-1C Cubesat. AMSAT has teamed with Spaceflight Inc. for integration and launch utilizing Spaceflight’s SHERPA system to a sun-synchronous orbit in the third quarter of 2015.

Fox-1C is the third of four Fox-1 series satellites under development, with Fox-1A and RadFXsat/Fox-1B launching through the NASA ELANA program. Fox-1C will carry an FM repeater system for amateur radio use by radio hams and listeners worldwide. Further details on the satellite and launch will be made available as soon as released.

AMSAT has an immediate need to raise funds to cover both the launch contract and additional materials for construction and testing for Fox-1C. We have set a fundraising goal of $125,000 to cover these expenses over the next 12 months, and allow us to continue to keep amateur radio in space.

Donations may be made through the AMSAT webpage at www.amsat.org, by calling (888) 322-6728 or by mail to the AMSAT office at 10605 Concord Street, Kensington, MD 20895, USA. Please consider a recurring, club, or corporate donation to maximize our chance of success with this mission. Also watch our website at www.amsat.org, follow us on Twitter at “AMSAT“, or on Facebook as “The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation” for continuing news and opportunities for support. AMSAT is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and donations may be tax-deductible.

You may donate here via PayPal.  Donations will be marked specifically for Fox-1C.  Note that PayPal usually allows you to donate with a credit card, even if you do not have a PayPal account.  However, PayPal requirements differ depending on your country.  We have no control over this issue.

You may also contribute through a special “crowd sourcing” fund.  (We regret the extended delay.  The 24 hours we were expecting turned out to be closer to 24 days due to several interlocking bureaucracies.  We do appreciate your patience!) The “crown sourcing” fund is now open for donations.!

SHERPA-Q3-2015
Spaceflight Inc.’s SHERPA system with integrated cubesat dispensers

 

UKube-1 with FUNcube-2 payload launched!

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UKube-1, courtesy of Clyde Space
UKube-1, courtesy of Clyde Space

UKube-1 was successfully launched and deployed today from the Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M launch vehicle as a secondary payload. The launch took place as planned at 15:58 UTC from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The primary payload was Russia’s Meteor-M2 weather satellite. Additional secondary payloads (according to eoportal.org) included:

  • Baumanets-2, a technology microsatellite (~100 kg) of BMSTU (Bauman Moscow State Technical University)
  • Monika-Relek (or MKA-PN2), a Russian microsatellite (solar and magnetosphere research)
  • Venta-1 / V1-QSPnP1 (V1-QuadSat-PnP-1) the first nanosatellite (7.5 kg) project of Latvia built by LatSpace SIA of Ventspils.
  • TechDemoSat-1 of SSTL, UK with a mass of ~160 kg
  • DX-1 (Dauria Experimental-1) of Dauria Aerospace, Russia’s first private microsatellite with a mass of 22 kg.
  • SkySat-2 of Skybox Imaging Inc. of Mountain View, CA, USA, a commercial remote sensing microsatellite of ~100 kg.
  • AISSat-2, a nanosatellite with a mass of 6.5 kg of Norway.

UKube-1 is a 3U cubesat and carries a FUNcube educational beacon and linear transponder similar to AO-73 (FUNcube-1). Beacon signals were heard soon after launch by the UKube team at 19:16 UTC.

Frequencies in use by UKube-1 include:

  • 145.840 Primary telemetry downlink CW or 1k2-9k6 BPSK
  • 145.915 FUNcube-2 telemetry 1k2 BPSK
  • 145.930-145.950 FUNcube-2 transponder downlink, 435.080-435.060 uplink
  • 2401.0 S-band downlink (QPSK-OQPSK)
  • 437.425-437.525 myPocketQub spread spectrum

Transponder and data downlinks operation will be variable during checkout and early operations. Check ANS, http://funcube.org.uk/, and http://amsat-uk.org/ for the most recent updates.

 

CubeSats QB50p1 and QB50p2 Awarded OSCAR Numbers

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AMSAT-NA OSCAR number coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO has announced that:

“I have received your request for OSCAR Numbers for CubeSats QB50p1 and QB50p2 and from everything I can determine these spacecraft meet all of the requirements necessary to receive OSCAR numbers. Therefore, by the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I hereby confer the designation European OSCAR 79 to CubeSats QB50p1 and European OSCAR 80 to CubeSat CubeSats QB50p2. These designations can, of course, for convenience be shortened to EO-79 and EO-80. I, and the entire amateur satellite community, hope for successful missions for both EO-79 and EO-80 and congratulate AMSAT-NL and the ISIS team as well as  all who contributed to these new Amateur Radio satellites for their success in building, testing and launching these new OSCARs.”

On behalf of the AMSAT-NL Qb50p team, Wouter Weggelaar, PA3WEG replied:

“Thank you very much for awarding these OSCAR numbers. They underwrite the collaborative nature of the mission, the help of radio amateurs, and the importance of amateur radio to the CubeSat community. I am very proud to receive these numbers.  We anticipate the transponders to be activated about six months into the mission, and will update the AMSAT-BB on the activation and well being of the satellites.”

QB50 Precursor Mission Page: http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html

EO-79 and EO-80 (Thanks to ISIS for the photo)
EO-79 and EO-80 (Thanks to ISIS for the photo)

Possible ISS Voice Contacts on Field Day

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ariss_logoARISS NEWS RELEASE   no. 14-02
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
David Jordan, AA4KN – ARISS Public Relations

Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday’s ARRL Field Day activities this coming weekend.

In a June 23 email, Kenneth Ransom, the ISS Ham Radio payload developer, stated “I have received a response from astronaut (Reid) Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday. Pass times begin very soon after the start of Field day.” Wiseman would operate under the call sign, NA1SS. Should Alex Gerst participate, he would use the call sign, DP0ISS.

If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus (COL) module using the standard Region 2 uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz for downlink. It’s expected that the packet system will be operational on 145.825 MHz during periods when the crew is not available.

It’s not clear whether any of the Russian crew would participate from the Russian module, but if so, they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS0ISS. The COL would also be available to their crew using the VHF frequencies above, if Wiseman is not operating.

Listed below are approximate pass times and a chart showing ISS passes for the Field Day weekend. The pass times shown are not definite, scheduled times with the crew. They may or may not be able to support these times. And, updates to this tentative plan will be released as they become available.

Saturday, June 28:

Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
  • N. America (18:11-18:33 UTC)
  • Hawaii (19:36 – 19:47 UTC)
  • N. America (19:48-20:10 UTC)