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GreenCube IO-117 Continues Operations Beyond Expected February 5th Passivation

This is a re-post from ANS-042

GreenCube IO-117 satellite continues to function beyond the initially scheduled shutdown of the amateur radio digipeater on February 5, 2024, at 0000 UTC. There have been no recent developments regarding the fate of this widely-used satellite since AMSAT Italia’s announcement on February 2nd that the Italian Space Agency is considering revisiting the decision to decommission it. Originally designed for scientific purposes and placed in MEO orbit, GreenCube satellite has successfully completed its primary mission. The “Save the GreenCube Satellite Digipeater” petition initiated by Peter Goodhall, 2MØSQL, has gained significant traction, garnering over 2,000 signatures to date. The petition, accessible at https://www.change.org/p/save-the-greencube-satellite-digipeater , remains open for further support.

The support from the amateur radio satellite community for the GreenCube IO-117 digipeater has been exceptionally robust. Carsten Groen, OZ9AAR, has introduced significant enhancements to his GreenCube Terminal in the latest Version 1.0.0.88, which can be accessed at https://moonbounce.dk/hamradio/greencube-terminal-program.html. Notable improvements encompass SatNOGS Integration, GPS Integration, “AMSAT Sheriff” Wyatt, and Live World View. The Oscarwatch GreenCube Reporter map, developed by Peter Goodhall, 2MØSQL, is available at https://oscarwatch.org/greencube, serving as a valuable resource for monitoring real-time activity on GreenCube. The recent success of the TX5S Clipperton Island DXpedition, which made numerous GreenCube digipeater contacts, can be attributed to these enhancements and the collaboration of operators adhering to the recently released IO-117 Code Of Conduct recommendations.

To get a comprehensive view of the considerable amateur radio activity on the GreenCube digipeater, you can explore the GreenCube IO-117 Users Map curated by Doug Papay, K8DP, accessible at https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Y7O-rWll2QHFTjbBa4ThmZ3AG9ls8Io. According to the latest update, GreenCube has facilitated digipeating for 1,576 unique callsigns and 999 unique grids. This encompasses digipeats from 121 DXCC entities, all 50 US states, all 47 JA prefectures, and 36 out of 40 CQ Zones. Since its launch in July 2022, 846 ground stations have contributed over 3.4 million telemetry and 6.2 million digipeater frames to the SatNOGS database. The top five contributors to the database, in terms of total submissions, are Doug Papay, K8DP, with 1.1M submissions; Dave Webb, KB1PVH, with 734k submissions; Dave Fisher, KGØD, with 576k submissions; Shige Nasu, JH8FIH, with 507k submissions; and Jacob Mol III, N8JCM, with 498k submissions.

GreenCube IO-117 exemplifies the strong backing the amateur radio satellite community extends to satellite missions incorporating telemetry data alongside communication opportunities for radio amateurs. The forthcoming challenge for satellite missions lies in soliciting input from the amateur radio satellite community and ensuring tools are available prior to launch. Leveraging its unique orbit and capabilities, GreenCube has enabled many to attain challenging awards on satellites, such as ARRL DXCC, ARRL Worked All States (WAS), and the JARL Worked All Japan Prefectures Award (WAJA). AMSAT, alongside thousands of amateur radio operators, remains steadfast in their support for the GreenCube mission, with hopes for its sustained success in the future.

[ANS thanks Doug Papay, K8DP, Peter Goodhall, 2MØSQL, and Carsten Groen, OZ9AAR for the above information]

By SM0TGU

Webmaster and member of the AMSAT-SM steering group.

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