New SaudiSat Gets OSCAR Designation
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 7, 2003--A third satellite in the SaudiSat series has earned an OSCAR designation from AMSAT. SaudiSat-1C now will be known as SO-50. The Amateur Radio payload was successfully placed into orbit December 20 from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome by a modified SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile. The German-made SAFIR-M Amateur Radio payload went into orbit during the same launch, as part of the RUBIN-2 scientific satellite. SaudiSat-1C is a project of the Space Research Institute of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), an independent scientific organization of the Saudi Arabian government.
"On behalf of AMSAT-NA I wish to congratulate you and your associates at Space Research Institute of KACST on the successful culmination of this project and hope that amateurs all over the world will have an opportunity to use SO-50," said AMSAT-NA Board Chairman Bill Tynan, W3XO, in making the announcement this week.
SaudiSat-1C follows by a little more than two years the launch of SaudiSats 1A and 1B. Now in a 650-km (400 miles) orbit, SaudiSat-1C carries several experiments, including a new Mode J FM amateur repeater. The downlink frequency is 436.775 MHz. The uplink frequency is 145.850 MHz. A 67.0-Hz CTCSS tone is required for on-demand access to the satellite, which shares the same frequencies as AO-27 and SaudiSat-1A.
Space Research Institute Director Turki Al Saud reports that the SaudiSat-1C repeater was activated and tested this past week. Its receiving antenna is a quarter-wave whip atop the spacecraft. The 250-mW UHF transmitter is coupled to a quarter-wave antenna on the bottom of the spacecraft. He said the repeater will be available to amateurs worldwide as power permits.
AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, has pointed out that SaudiSat-1C will require activation on each pass by a designated control operator. "A worldwide network of designated control operators is now being developed so that radio amateurs may begin using the satellite immediately," he said.
For tracking, the NORAD identifier for two-line Keplerian elements is 27607.
According to a report in Arab News, the new satellite is equipped with capabilities to provide "vital data" concerning weather conditions and oil exploration as well as to monitor the movement of vehicles in remote regions of Saudi Arabia.
Turki Al Saud told AMSAT-NA that SaudiSat-1A (SO-41) recently has been used to conduct some tests and will return to service soon. SO-41 has been configured for FM voice repeater operation. SaudiSat-1B (SO-42) still is being used to conduct some experiments but could be made available for amateur use in the future. SaudiSat 1A and 1B were launched September 26, 2000, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.--AMSAT News Service; King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Page last modified: 01:34 PM, 07 Jan 2003 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
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