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More CubeSats Reach Orbit

09/23/2009

Early this morning (UTC), an Indian PSLV-C14 rocket carried the Oceansat-2 satellite to orbit, along with four CubeSats and two RubinSats. The RubinSats are 8 kg research modules that will remain attached to the PSLV-C14 booster.

CubeSats are very small satellites, typically only a few inches on each side. As they are a relatively inexpensive research spacecraft, they've become increasingly popular with university science programs. A number of CubeSats use Amateur Radio frequencies to downlink telemetry, as is the case with this latest group. Early reports indicate that all of the CubeSats are active.

Here are the frequencies and modes for the four CubeSats:

CubeSat

Country

Beacon Frequency (MHz)

Data Downlink (MHz)

BEESAT

Germany

436.000 (CW)

436.000-4800/9600 bps GMSK

UWE-2

Germany

n/a

437.385-1200/9600 bps AFSK/FSK

ITUpSAT1

Turkey

437.385 (CW)

437.325-19200 bps GFSK

SwissCube

Switzerland

437.505 (CW)

437.505-1200 bps FSK



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