By:
On:
In: AMSAT
Tagged: ,

AMSAT-UK Support Student Payload on Sub Orbital Launch from Oman

Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 and support teams at Etlaq Spaceport Oman

Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 and support teams at Etlaq Spaceport Oman

A team of 6 students from the University of Surrey, the University of Portsmouth and the University of Southampton are integrating equipment they designed, manufactured and tested to a 12m high Stellar Kinetics Kia-1 rocket in Southern Oman.

Jovian-O and pod at Surrey university for vibration testing

Jovian-O and pod at Surrey university for vibration testing

The launch from Etlaq Spaceport, to an anticipated altitude of 500km, will be the first flight of the 2 stage Kia-1 rocket and is one of 5 planned test flights from Etlaq this year. The spaceport is located at 18 degrees latitude overlooking the Indian Ocean, making it an ideal location for launching vehicles into multiple orbits, including equatorial orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, polar orbit, medium Earth orbit, and geostationary orbit. The Spaceport should be fully operational by 2027.

The Universities payload, known as Jovian-O, will test a student designed 6U CubeSat deployment pod and its payload. The battery powered ‘satellite’ will not completely deploy from its pod, but remain tethered to it. However it will capture video and still images of the deployment process verifying correct operation of the pod. It will also flight test hardware from the imaging payload DAVE, ( Dual Aperture for Viewing Earth) which will fly on the future Jovian-1 orbital mission along with an AMSAT-UK educational outreach and U/V FM transponder.

Students integrating the Jovian-O 6U payload

Students integrating the Jovian-O 6U payload

The images transmitted from Jovian-O during this sub orbital test flight use 500kb/sec QPSK. AMSAT-UK provided a high gain 4W 435MHz amplifier for the mission and a deployable 435MHz antenna. Data will be received at Etlaq by the student’s portable ground station.

Follow @EtlaqSpace and @stellarkinetics on X

https://www.etlaq.om/launches/duqm-2

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/uk-students-launch-international-space-mission

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Editor

AMSAT-UK

By:
On:
In: AMSAT
Tagged: ,

Amateur Radio Satellites in TES Magazine

International Space Station - Image credit NASA

International Space Station – Image credit NASA

Amateur radio can open up a new world of opportunities for students, says teacher Chris Aitken MM0WIC, @skipperAitken on X, who shares his tips on how to start a club in the Times Educational Supplement – TES Magazine.

“In 2023 I officially started the Wick High School Radio Club, with a callsign of GM0WHS. The aim of the club was to expose our students to the wide range of activities available in amateur radio.

I remember our first activity: talking to another amateur in England via the SO-50 satellite. I stood with three students on the rugby pitch, antennas pointing to the sky and talking to another amateur, Nick M1DDD.

By the end of the contact, we had 30 students around us wondering what was going on. Their curiosity sparked, we answered questions on what we were doing and invited them to take part.”

Read the TES magazine article at
https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/general/why-i-started-amateur-radio-club-my-school

Online Amateur Radio Foundation Course M6KFAThere is no better way to explore the fascinating world of wireless communication than by becoming a radio amateur.

This free online 3-week amateur radio course will enable you to become a radio amateur and get an Ofcom amateur radio licence and callsign, details and booking information at
https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/book-a-place/

Follow AMSAT-UK on X

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Editor

AMSAT-UK

By:
On:
In: AMSAT
Tagged: ,

Use of 430-440 MHz by AST SpaceMobile constellation

Image by PE0SAT of 435.900 MHz downlink received Sept 12, 2024

Image by PE0SAT of 435.900 MHz downlink received Sept 12, 2024

AST & Science LLC (AST SpaceMobile) currently have five Bluebird satellites, launched 12 September 2024, in Low Earth Orbit using the amateur radio 430-440 MHz band, see
https://community.libre.space/t/asts-bluebird-1-5/12255

These amateur frequencies are used for the uplink and downlinks with up to 50 kHz bandwidth 430.5, 432.3, 434.1, 435.9 and 439.5 MHz.

AST say they have ground stations in Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria and Korea.

They are planning to launch a further 243 satellites also using 430-440 MHz and in February submitted a request for use of those amateur frequencies to the FCC Space Bureau
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=371448&x=.

In April the FCC responded with these questions to AST
https://forum.amsat-dl.org/cms/index.php?file-download/7502/

AST’s responded in May to the FCC questions regarding their filing, see answer regarding IARU
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=376295

The Interference Analysis Report submitted by AST in their answer doesn’t mention the interference that would be caused from the 430-440 MHz transmissions, see
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=373778&x=.

FCC issued this Public Notice in June – comment to FCC by July 21
https://www.fcc.gov/document/space-bureau-accepts-filing-ast-science-llc-application

For some background on FCC attitudes see the interview the Chief of the FCC’s Space Bureau, Jay Schwarz, gave to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). It primarily concerns the ITU-R EPFD limits but it reflects the new thinking at the FCC about getting rid of “outdated assumptions about system design and spectrum use”
https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/how-the-fcc-space-bureau-is-rethinking-the-rules-of-space/

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Editor

AMSAT-UK

By:
On:
In: AMSAT
Tagged: ,

ISS Contact with Dublin Students

2025-06-04 ISS Contact with Dublin StudentsStudents at Technological University of Dublin will talk via ham radio with astronaut Takaya Onishi KF5LKS on the International Space Station.

The contact is scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, at 12:10 UTC (1:10 PM BST) via EI1ISS.

The contact on 145.800 MHz FM +/- 3.5 kHz Doppler should be receivable outdoors in the British Isles and Western Europe using just handheld radio and 1/4 wave whip.

Many amateur FM radios can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters, usually marked FM-N (narrow) and FM. For best results you should select the filter for wider 5 kHz deviation FM. Handhelds generally have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

Don’t have a radio for 145.8 MHz?  Use your phone to tune in online using the GoonhillyWebSDR radio https://vhf-goonhilly.batc.org.uk/

A live video feed of the event is planned, check the ARISS YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ARISSlive

For the latest information follow ARISS on X: https://x.com/ARISS_Intl

Follow Takaya Onishi on X: https://x.com/Astro_Onishi

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Editor

AMSAT-UK