Author: SM0TGU

Håkan SM7WSJ skriver:

Förutom att vi har FOX satelliterna http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1113 på väg upp i rymden under året, så kommer vi även att få ett antal nya linjära satelliter uppskickade från Kina.

Det verkar vara ett stort intresse för rymden från nya spelare (nationer) och det skulle inte förvåna mig om vi inom några år återigen får se någon amatörsatellit i högre bana.

Känns ännu mer inspirerande att bygga upp sin nya satellitstation med så mycket på väg upp i omloppsbana.

73 Håkan SM7WSJ

PS: Se även http://amsat-uk.org/2015/05/24/nine-cas-3-ham-radio-satellites/

—

CAMSAT announces mid-July launch with six U/V transponders

Alan Kung, BA1DU (CAMSAT CEO) recently sent AMSAT-NA the following
press release:

CAMSAT orchestrated CAS-3 amateur satellite system is now nearing
completion, six Chinese amateur satellites will be launched in mid-
July,it includes different weight category satellites, consists of a
20 kg, three 10 kg and two 1 kg satellites. All six satellites are
equipped with substantially the same amateur radio payloads, a U/V
mode linear transponder, a CW telemetry beacon and an AX.25
19.2k/9.6k baud GMSK telemetry downlink are attached in each of the
six satellites, each set of amateur radio equipments has the same
technical characteristics, but operates on different frequencies of
70cm band uplink and 2m band downlink.

During the years, CAMSAT works closely with DFH Satellite Co. Ltd to
complete the project, which is Chinese government aerospace
contractor and provided most of the support for this project. All the
satellites are currently conducting final testing and inspection,
here are the technical details:

CAS-3A:

– Micro-satellite architecture
– Dimensions: 400Lx400Wx400H mm
– Mass: 20kg
– Stabilization: three-axis stabilization system with its +Y surface
facing the earth
– Antenna: Deployable antenna, one 1/4? monopole VHF antenna with
max.0dBi gain is located at +Z side and one 1/4? monopole UHF
antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at –Z side, close to the each
edge of satellite body
– Uplink: 70cm band
– Downlink: 2m band
– Amateur radio payloads:
Callsign: BJ1SB
CW Telemetry Beacon: 50mW, 22wpm
U/V Mode Linear Transponder: 100mW, 20kHz bandwidth, spectrum
Inverting
AX.25 telemetry: 100mW, 19.2k/9.6k baud GMSK

CAS-3B, CAS-3C and CAS-3D:

– Micro-satellite architecture
– Dimensions: 250Lx250Wx250H mm
– Mass: 9kg
– Stabilization: three-axis stabilization system with its +Y surface
facing the earth
– Antenna: Deployable antenna, one 1/4? monopole VHF antenna with
max.0dBi gain is located at +Z side and one 1/4? monopole UHF
antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at –Z side, close to the each
edge of satellite body
– Uplink: 70cm band
– Downlink: 2m band
– Amateur radio payloads:
Callsign: BJ1SC ( for CAS-3B), BJ1SD ( for CAS-3C), BJ1SE (for CAS-3D
CW Telemetry Beacon: 50mW, 22wpm
U/V Mode Linear Transponder: 100mW, 20kHz bandwidth, spectrum
Inverting AX.25 telemetry: 100mW, 19.2k/9.6k baud GMSK

CAS-3E and CAS-3F:

– Cube-satellite architecture
– Dimensions: 110Lx110Wx110H mm
– Mass: 1.5kg
– Stabilization: Spinning stabilization using permanent magnet torquer
– Antenna: Deployable antenna, one 1/4? monopole VHF antenna with
max.0dBi gain is located at +Z side and one 1/4? monopole UHF
antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at –Z side, close to the each
edge of satellite body
– Uplink: 70cm band
– Downlink: 2m band
– Amateur radio payloads:
Callsign: BJ1SF ( for CAS-3E), BJ1SG ( for CAS-3F)
CW Telemetry Beacon: 50mW, 22wpm
U/V Mode Linear Transponder: 100mW, 20kHz bandwidth, spectrum
Inverting
AX.25 telemetry: 100mW, 9.6k baud GMSK

This launch will use an brand new Chinese launch vehicle named as
Long March – 6 (LM-6 or CZ-6) at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center of
China, CAS-3A will operate at about 450 km height sun-synchronous
orbit, the other satellites will operate at about 530 km height sun-
synchronous orbit.

The launch will carry total of 20 satellites, there are other three
satellites named as CAS-3G, CAS-3H and CAS-3I involved in amateur
radio from other agencies of China will share the same launch, CAMSAT
was assisting Chinese government administration to coordinate and
allocate their frequencies, more details will be announced later.

Kan meddela att det kommit upp nya satelliter från USNA PcSat-familjen under maj 2015. Pga. mycket jobb har jag inte hunnit skriva om eller lyssna på dessa ännu, men mera info finns här:

http://amsat-uk.org/2015/05/22/usna-cubesat-status-update/

Det finns bla. en PSK31-transponder på dessa satelliter.

I de senaste nyhetsbreven från ANS har det varit många intressanta nyheter. Här kommer en sammanställning:

—

Announcing EO-79 transponder testing for one full orbit – May 4

Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG from AMSAT-NL reported via the AMSAT-BB that
on Monday May, there is a fairly high chance that the AMSAT-NL
transponder will be tested for one full orbit.

Details will be made available on short notice, but the target time
for an activation starts at approximately 08:30 UTC and may last
until about 10:10 UTC.

The aim of the test is to characterize the power budget on board EO-
79. Usage of the transponder is being encourage. Please also report
the QSOs and signal reports to pa3weg at amsat.org

[ANS thanks Wouter Wouter PA3WEG for the above information]

EO-79 / QB50p1 First Transponder Test Success

AMSAT-NL is delighted to announce that an initial series of tests of
the FUNcube transponder payload aboard the QB50p1 CubeSat have been
successfully completed.

QB50p1 is one of two QB50 precursor spacecraft that were launched
from Yasny in Russia in June 2014.

The primary science payloads are still being extensively tested but
it has now been possible to undertake a short test of the transponder
payload as well. The transponder is intended as a long term secondary
mission following the initial technology demonstration and de-risking
phase.

After spending ten months in space, the transponder was commanded on
for short periods during each of the three morning passes over Europe
on Monday 27th April 2015. A number of FUNcube team members in the
Netherlands and in the UK were standing by to run through a
predefined test plan.

The transponder has a similar performance to that of FUNcube-1 but
the passband is nominally 5 kHz wider by design.

It is not yet known when this transponder may be available for
regular usage but AMSAT-NL is delighted to be able to report that the
hardware is functioning and is very grateful to the QB50 project, the
Von Karman Institute and ISIS B.V. for their ongoing support.

More information about the QB50 project can be found at
https://www.qb50.eu/

AMSAT-NL: http://amsat-nl.org

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

[ANS Thanks Graham G3VZV for the above information]

AMSAT-SM donates $1600 USD for the FOX satellite project

“AMSAT-SM believe that FOX project is very important to continue to
develop amateur radio on board satellites. We therefore hope that our
contribution can help the FOX satellites up in space.”

AMSAT-SM in Sweden has aprox 150 members. Membership is currently
free and registration is done online at our website: www.amsat.se

[ANS thanks Lars Thunberg SM0TGU for the above information]

Med glädje kan vi läsa om att AMSAT-NA (USA) har fått en möjlighet att “följa med” på en geostationär satellit under 2017. Detta innebär att vi kanske kan få två geostationära transpondrar uppe för amatörradio om bara några år!

Projektet kommer även innebära att en lågbudget markstation kommer tas fram så att det ska bli möjligt för många att köpa in billig utrustning.

Läs mer:
AMSAT is excited to announce that we have accepted an opportunity to
participate in a potential rideshare as a hosted payload on a
geostationary satellite planned for launch in 2017. An amateur radio
payload, operating in the Amateur Satellite Service, will fly on a
spacecraft which Millennium Space Systems (MSS) of El Segundo, CA is
contracted to design, launch, and operate for the US government based
on their Aquila M8 Series Satellite Structure.

A meeting to discuss this potential rideshare took place on April 13
at Millennium Space Systems that included Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY;
Franklin Antonio, N6NKF, co-founder of Qualcomm; Jerry Buxton, N0JY,
AMSAT Vice President of Engineering and member of the board for AMSAT-
NA; Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO, Director and President Emeritus of AMSAT-NA;
Phil Karn,KA9Q; and Michelle Thompson, W5NYV.

Hosting the meeting for MSS were Stan Dubyn as founder and chairman
of MSS, Vince Deno as president of MSS, Jeff Ward, K8KA, of MSS as VP
for Product Development, formerly with SSTL and University of Surrey
Space Center, and Ryan Lawrence of MSS as Project Manager on the
spacecraft mission. Attending by telephone were Dr. Jonathan Black,
Associate Research Director of Hume Center for Aerospace Systems and
Associate Professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering and Dr.
Michael Parker, KT7D, founder of RINCON Research Corp.

Following the meeting, Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY, Director of Research
at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology of Virginia
Tech, and former director and former VP Engineering of AMSAT,
described this as an opportunity to go forward with “AMSAT-Eagle”
which, in the 2006-2008 timeframe, evolved into a microwave payload
to be flown to geostationary orbit as a hosted payload. It would have
provided digital communications to small terminals on the ground and
a linear bent pipe transponder had it flown. This failed to go
forward in part due to lack of an affordable flight opportunity.

McGwier outlined the next steps toward developing this mission:

1) To organize an effort at Virginia Tech to make a firm proposal
to MSS and its US government sponsor, and organize an effort
to raise sufficient funds to pay for development of the mission.

2) Enable Dr. Jonathan Black to lead the construction project at
Virginia Tech in the Space@VT Center. Sonya Rowe, KK4NLO, Project
Manager at the Hume Center will be the project manager.

3) Work for development of a low-cost microwave ground station for
amateur radio still needs to be determined.

4) Dr. Michael Parker, KT7D, will solicit the cooperation of the
Rincon Research Corp. for development of the software radio
technology for this payload.

The AMSAT Board of Directors has accepted the invitation to
participate in this potential rideshare payload opportunity. AMSAT
expects to be involved in the development of the ground station and
the payload RF development, and will serve as the amateur radio
(hosted) payload operator once the satellite has been launched.

McGwier summarized, “The launch is currently scheduled for 2017 and
the payload must be delivered for testing and integration by Spring
of 2016. It is an ambitious schedule and all involved will have to
gain and maintain a serious level of commitment to that which they
agree to undertake.” AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW, said,
“The AMSAT leadership is excited to fly a Phase-IV geostationary
amateur satellite payload. This is an evolving development as we
collaborate with the VT Hume Center with a project that provides
technical challenges to create a new amateur radio capability in
space that will provide a variety of benefits not only for amateurs
but also for emergency communications and STEM educational outreach.”

The transponder is expected to support a wide range of voice,
digital, and experimental advanced communications technologies. A
decision is expected soon specifying the microwave uplink and
downlink bands.

Additional information on the Aquila M8 Series Satellite can be viewed
on-line:
http://www.millennium-space.com/
http://www.millennium-space.com/platforms#aquila

AMSAT has posted a photo of the GEO opportunity team with the
Millennium Aquila satellite at: http://www.amsat.org.