04/12/2016
The first-ever satellite to carry a D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for
Amateur Radio) Amateur Radio payload into space is expected to launch on April
22 from Guiana. The OUFTI-1[1] (Orbital Utility For Telecommunication
Innovations) CubeSat is one of three CubeSats developed by student teams under
the European Space Agency (ESA[2]) Education Office "Fly Your Satellite![3]"
program, which is aimed at training the next generation of aerospace
professionals. The satellites arrived in South America on March 25, followed by
the student teams a few days later.
On March 30 the students pulled the so-called "Remove Before Flight" pins and
successfully verified that their CubeSats were ready for launch before
replacing the access ports on the P-POD, which will secure the CubeSats prior
to and during launch and then will release them into orbit. The next time the
students will have contact with their respective CubeSats will be through their
spacecraft's communication link, once the CubeSats have been deployed into
orbit. Once thermal-optical tape has been applied to the P-POD to shield the
CubeSats from extreme thermal radiation during the launch phase, the P-POD will
be integrated with the Soyuz launch vehicle.
Constructed by students at the University of Liege in Belgium (ULg), OUFTI-1
will be the first satellite to carry an Amateur Radio D-STAR transponder.
Developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League, D-STAR enables the simultaneous
transmission of voice and digital data as well as call sign-based roaming via
the Internet. "The OUFTI-1 D-STAR repeater will be available either as a direct
communication repeater between two users, and as an extension of the ULg D-STAR
repeater," explains the article[4] "D-STAR digital amateur communications in
space with OUFTI-1 CubeSat" by Jonathan Pisane, ON7JPD; Amandine Denis, ON4EYA,
and Jacques Verly, ON9CWD, all of ULg. The CubeSat's frequencies are 145.950
MHz (FSK AX.25 and D-STAR down, with an uplink at 435.045 MHz. OUFTI-1 will
carry a CW beacon transmitting on 145.980 MHz.
The other two CubeSats are from Italy and Denmark. The CubeSat e-st@r-II from
the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, will demonstrate an attitude control system
using measurements of Earth's magnetic field. It will transmit CW and 1.2 k
AFSK on 437.485 MHz. AAUSAT4 from the University of Aalborg, Denmark, will
operate an automated ocean vessel identification system. It will transmit on
437.425 MHz.
[1] https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/202_jun_2013.pdf
[2] http://www.esa.int/Education/CubeSats_-_Fly_Your_Satellite/Launch_campaign_s
tarted_CubeSats_arrived_at_Kourou_spaceport
[3] http://www.esa.int/Education/CubeSats_-_Fly_Your_Satellite/Launch_campaign_s
tarted_CubeSats_arrived_at_Kourou_spaceport
[4] https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/202_jun_2013.pdf
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