Saudi-OSCAR 41
Satellite Summary
Name: Saudi-OSCAR 41 (aka SaudiSat-1A)
NASA Catalog Number: 26545
Callsign: Broadcast: TBD;
BBS: TBD
Launched: September 26, 2000
Launch vehicle: Dnepr (converted R-36N Voevoda ICBM (SS-18 Satan))
Launch location: Baikonur Cosmodrome
Weight: 10 kg
Orbit: 625 x 656 km
Inclination: 64.6 degrees
Size: 23 cm x 23 cm x 23 cm
Period: 97.5 minutes
Digital Transponders Mode JD 9600 baud FSK (FM)
Features:
Description
Sudisat-1a and Saudisat-1b are the first Saudi Arabian micro satellites. They are designed and built by the Space Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
They are both low Earth orbiting Satellites designed to provide store-and-forward communications and carry several space experiments. They carry amateur radio communications payload. The satellites are currently operating some experiments. When opened to the public, the amateur payload will operating in mode-J.
April 2002 -- SaudiSat 1A is now open for Amateur Radio communications. Turki Al-Saud announced the following:
Please announce the availability of SaudiSat 1-A (SO-41) to AMSAT members and to follow Amateur Radio operators in your region. Saudi OSCAR-41 has been configured for operation in the amateur service. The spacecraft will automatically enable its UHF transmitter over Saudi Arabia and the United States for approximately 20-minutes each pass.
The spacecraft is operating in Mode-V/U, centered on a VHF uplink and UHF downlink of 145.850/436.775 MHz, currently configured as an analog FM voice repeater. The spacecraft will operate in this mode intermittently, as power and spacecraft experiments permit.
SO-41's downlink RF power is 1-watt over both regions with left-hand circular polarization. The uplink antenna (located on top of the spacecraft) is linear in polarization.
References
Thanks: Turki Al-Saud.
Last update May 31, 2003 - N7HPR