 AMSAT-OSCAR 40
(Phase 3D)
Spacecraft Summary
| OSCAR Designation: |
AMSAT-OSCAR 40 |
|
Oscar Number: |
AO-40 |
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| International Designator: |
2000-072B |
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Norad Number: |
26609 |
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| Common Name: |
Phase 3D |
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Alternate Name: |
P3D |
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| Satellite Type: |
Satellite |
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Launch Date: |
16 November, 2000 |
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| Launch Location: |
Kourou, French Guiana |
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Launch Vehicle: |
Ariane 5 |
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| Apogee: |
58665.00 |
|
Perigee: |
1157.00 |
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| Inclination: |
7.24 |
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Period: |
1146.60 |
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| Dimensions: |
230 x 230 x 70 cm hexagon |
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Weight: |
244.000 Kg |
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| Organization: | AMSAT-DL/AMSAT-NA |
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Frequency Information
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| Analog Passband: Non-Operational |
| Downlink |
145.8050 - 145.9950 MHz SSB/CW |
| Downlink |
435.4750 - 435.7250 MHz SSB/CW |
| Downlink |
2400.2250 - 2400.4750 MHz SSB/CW |
| Downlink |
2401.2250 - 2401.4750 MHz SSB/CW |
| Downlink |
10451.0250 - 10451.2750 MHz SSB/CW |
| Downlink |
24048.0250 - 24048.0750 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
21.2100 - 21.2500 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
24.0000 - 24.9600 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
145.8400 - 145.9900 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
435.5500 - 145.8000 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
1268.3250 - 1268.5750 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
1269.2500 - 1269.5000 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
2400.3500 - 2400.6000 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
2446.4500 - 2446.7000 MHz SSB/CW |
| Uplink: |
5668.5500 - 5668.8000 MHz SSB/CW |
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Current Keplerian Elements
AO-40
1 26609U 00072B 10245.27676854 -.00000216 00000-0 10000-3 0 4167
2 26609 9.1548 316.2314 7962110 344.5351 1.3702 1.25587204 45188
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Weekly Satellite Report
AO-40 has suffered a catastrophic failure, and although recovery efforts continue it is not likely to return to service. |
Detailed Description
AO-40 was the post launch designator given to the long awaited Phase 3D satellite. It was the largest, most complex and most powerful satellite ever launched for the Amateur Satellite Service. It took over ten years to build and launch, and employed a number of new and advanced facilities never before attempted in an amateur satellite. AO-40 was not just a single channel "repeater in the sky". It was a linear transponder, which means that it had a band of frequencies in which it would receive signals, and retransmit those signals unchanged. Thus a variety of modes were possible, including SB, CW, digital modes, etc. However FM was not acceptable, for efficiency reasons.
Shortly after launch a plugged valve vent on the 400 N motor prevented proper functioning of the burn valves and had probably allowed build-up of fuel pressure in the cooling coils around the motor bell housing. These coils apparently ruptured and in the process damaged one or (less likely) both of the burn valves. During cycling of the pressurization valve the following day, one component of the fuel apparently escaped from the damaged burn valve at the motor housing and mixed with residual second fuel component in the motor, creating a localised explosion. During this cycling (which should have been safe since the burn valves were indicated in the telemetry as closed) the spacecraft suddenly went silent. This pressure wave seems to have vented primarily through the centre section of the spacecraft, damaging the omni antennas on the opposite end and perhaps removing part of the covering from the omni end of the spacecraft. AO-40 was recovered several weeks later but several of the subsystems were no longer functioning.
In January of 2004, AO-40 suffered suffered a catastrophic failure of the main battery which is clamping the buss voltage at a low level. This shut off the S2 Tx, and probably crashed the IHU-1. Subsequent efforts to recover the satellite failed, and although the main and aux. batteries were been tied together there is not enough voltage at this time to recover the satellite. BeaconsAO-40 Beacons were located in the passbands at the following frequencies (+/- Doppler shift)
| BEACON | General Beacon (GB) | Middle Beacon (MB) | Engineering Beacon (EB) |
|---|
| 2 m | none | 145.898 MHz | none | | 70cm | 435.438 MHz | 435.588 MHz | 435.838 MHz | | 13cm(1) | 2400.188 MHz | 2400.338 MHz | 2400.588 MHz | | 13cm(2) | 2401.173 MHz | 2401.323 MHz | 2401.573 MHz | | 3cm | 10450.975 MHz | 10451.125 MHz | 10451.375 MHz |
1.5cm | 24047.885 MHz | 24048.035 MHz | 24048.285 MHz |
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Reference Documents:
- Preliminary Results of the GPS Flight Experiment on the High Earth Orbit AMSAT-OSCAR 40 Spacecraft,Michael C. Moreau, Frank H. Bauer, J. Russell Carpenter, Edward P.Davis, George W. Davis, and Larry A. Jackson, 25th Annual AAS Guidance and Control Conference, Feb. 6-10, 2002, Breckenridge, CO.
- GPS-Based Navigation and Orbit Determination for the AMSAT AO-40 Satellite, George Davis, Emergent Space Technologies, LLC; Michael Moreau, Russell Carpenter, Frank Bauer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Results from the GPS Flight Experiment on the High Earth Orbit AMSAT OSCAR-40 Spacecraft, Michael C. Moreau, Edward P. Davis, J. Russell Carpenter NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; David Kelbel, Computer Sciences Corporation; George W. Davis, Emergent Space Technologies; Penina Axelrad, University of Colorado at Boulder
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