Roscosmos EVA photo Chasqui-1 deployment. Click for full size image.
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos announced that a nano satellite with the designation, NS-1 was hand-launched during a space walk that began at 14:00 UTC Monday, August 18, 2014.
The satellite is also referred to as the Peruvian Cubesat Chasqui-1 and weighs 1.5 kg. The satellite’s main mission is to serve as a platform for testing micro-electronics and optical devices used in cubesat applications.
Close-up of Chasqui-1 during deployment. Click for full-size image.
Its secondary mission is to operate as an amateur radio satellite. It’s transmit downlink is 437.025 MHz. The craft will send information in CW mode. It also transmits images stored in memory, photos taken by two on board cameras and will send telemetry. Data transmissions will use either 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 or 9600 bps GMSK modes.
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.
Spaceflight Inc.’s SHERPA system with integrated cubesat dispensers
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
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.
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.”
