11/03/2020

The 3-UÿNeutron-1 CubeSat[1] is scheduled for deployment from the International Space Station (ISS) on November 5 at 10:40 UTC. For the satellite's first month and during its commissioning phase, the Neutron-1 beacon will transmit 1,200 bps BPSK telemetry[2] every 60 seconds on 435.300 MHz. Developed by the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), the satellite's payload includes a VU FM amateur radio repeater during available times and according to the spacecraft's power budget. The Neutron-1 science mission is spelled out in a formal paper[3], Neutron-1 Mission: Low Earth Orbit Neutron Flux Detection and COSMOS Mission Operations Technology Demonstration.

HSFL operates and maintains a satellite UHF, VHF, and L/S-band amateur radio ground station at Kauai Community College.

The primary mission of Neutron-1 is to measure low-energy neutron flux in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The science payload, a small neutron detector developed by Arizona State University, will focus on measurements of low-energy secondary neutrons - a component of the LEO neutron environment.

A number of other amateur radio satellites are expected to launch or be deployed in the next few months. AMSAT's RadFxSat-2 (Fox-1E) is expected to go into orbit by year's end on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne vehicle. RadFxSat-2 carries a 30 kHz wide VU linear transponder.

The Tevel Mission - a series of eight Israeli 1U CubeSats, each carrying a UV FM transponder - is expected to launch from India on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December. Also from the Herzliya Science Center is a 3U CubeSat called Tausat-1, which is scheduled to launch on a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) ISS resupply mission in February for subsequent deployment. Tausat-1 carries an FM transponder.

AMSAT-Spain (AMSAT-EA[4]) reports that its PocketQubes, EASAT-2, and HADES, have been integrated for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in December, while GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N have been integrated for launch on Firefly's Alpha rocket.

In other amateur satellite news, J‚r“me LeCuyer, F4DXV, set yet another record, this time via EO-88, on October 28, working Vladimir Vassiljev, R9LR, at a distance of 4,560 kilometers (2,827 miles). F4DXV is now a distance-record contact partner on 10 LEO satellites, while R9LR is a contact partner for records set on four LEO satellites. AMSAT tracks claimed distance records[5]. - Thanks to AMSAT News Serviceÿ


[1] https://www.hsfl.hawaii.edu/
[2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GZ1j7l62bshe3_hL7kGoIQG2EEogayqu9C76rwKUqDs/edit#gid=1420533938
[3] https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4423&context=smallsat#:~:text=The2D120is203U20being%20developed,Hawaii20Manoa%20(UHM).&text=The20will20delivered,CubeSat20to20ISS.
[4] https://www.amsat-ea.org/
[5] https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/

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