SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS002
ARLS002 Japanese Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads to
Launch on February 12
ZCZC AS02
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 002 ARLS002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT February 10, 2016
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS002
ARLS002 Japanese Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads to
Launch on February 12
Three Japanese satellites - ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3, and Horyu-4 -
carrying Amateur Radio payloads are expected to launch between
0845-0930 UTC on Friday, February 12 into a 575 kilometer, 31 degree
inclination orbit. ChubuSat-2 and ChubSat-3 are message
store-and-forward Amateur Radio payloads. Horyu-4 will transmit a
telemetry in the 70 centimeter band.
According to Yasutaka Narusawa, JR2XEA, Nagoya University and
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cooperated in developing the 50 kg
ChubuSat-2 (JJ2YPN) and ChubuSat-3 (JJ2YPO) microsatellites. They
will head into space from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center. The
Komaki Amateur SATCOM Club will operate these satellites. ChubuSat-2
and 3 are piggy-back payloads on the ASTRO-H x-ray astronomical
satellite. Both satellites were built by Nagoya University graduate
students.
"The primary mission of ChubuSat-2 is to support ASTRO-H celestial
observations by monitoring radiations which can be a background
noise for onboard instruments of ASTRO-H in the same orbit and epoch
as ASTRO-H," a mission statement on the ChubuSat website explains.
"A message exchange service can be made publicly available to
world-wide ham fans via Amateur Radio system onboard ChubuSat-2.
Furthermore, we plan to observe solar neutrons, which were proposed
by graduate students in the ChubuSat instrument development
project." ChubuSat-3 also will include a VHF/UHF message exchange
payload.
ChubuSat-3 also will include a message exchange payload. According
to the ChubuSat website, its primary mission is to observe the
effects of global warming, such as reduction in the size of
glaciers. For this mission, ChubuSat-3 has a high-resolution camera,
which also will be used to observe space debris.
After separation, each satellite will transmit a UHF CW beacon
message, including battery voltage and other data. Those copying the
beacon message are invited to forward the data via e-mail at,
chubusat2@frontier.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp .
After on-orbit checkout - possibly 1 month after launch - the
message exchange service will be activated. Users can send messages
via the VHF uplink, which are written to onboard memory. By sending
an inquiry message, "anyone can read your message with UHF
downlink," the ChubuSat website says.
The ChubuSat-2 uplink is 145.815 MHz FSK 1200 bps; the downlink is
437.100 MHz GMSK 9600 bps and CW. The ChubuSat-3 uplink is 145.840
MHz FSK 1200 bps; the downlink is 437.425 MHz GMSK 9600 bps and CW.
Details on the uplink/downlink format have been posted in PDF format
on the ChubuSat website at,
https://www.frontier.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp/chubusat/Amateur_MSG_REPLY_format.pdf
.
Horyu-4 has downlinks on 437.375 MHz and 2400.300 MHz 1200 bps AFSK,
9600 bps GMSK, S_BPSK, CW.
"Through the use of amateur frequencies, the Horyu-4 team would like
to inspire interest in radio communication, promote research on
radio communications technology, and participate to the skills
improvement of beginners in radio communications, including our own
freshly licensed Amateur Radio members!" an explanation on the
Horyu-4 website offered.
Horyu-4's primary mission is to measure discharge current waveforms
and capture images of the discharges occurring on solar cells. The
satellite also has a Facebook page at,
https://www.facebook.com/Horyu-4-Arc-Event-Generator-and-Investigation-Satellite-780188535364868/
.
NNNN
/EX
