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Artist's conception of UKube-1 in orbit.
(Courtesy UKube website) |
The UK Space Agency's first cubesat - UKube-1 - may launch
in late October, according to the BBC. The AMSAT News Service reports that the
satellite will carry a set of AMSAT-UK "FUNcube-2" boards which will
provide for Mode U/V (up on 435 MHz, down on 145 MHz) SSB/CW contacts as well
as a telemetry beacon on two meters.
The satellite will also carry downlink-only transmitters on
two meters, 70-centimeter spread-spectrum and high-speed data downlinking on
2401 MHz. The satellite is scheduled to be launched from Kazakhstan. FUNcube-1
is scheduled for a November launch from Russia.
Additional amateur radio cubesat launches are anticipated in
the first half of 2014 as part of the QB-50 project, an anticipated network of
some 40 double cubesats designed to study the thermosphere. The amateur radio
payloads will be part of a precursor launch to test the technology in orbit.
More information is available at <
http://www.qb50.eu/>.
