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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "Federal Grant Augments "Ham Aid" Fund for Hurricane Volunteers"){kind=small} Previous: Federal Grant Augments "Ham Aid" Fund for Hurricane Volunteers |  Next: ARRL Announces 2005 Toy Drive for Hurricane Victims |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 28, 2005--The launch of the Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative (SSETI) Express satellite, which will carry an Amateur Radio package, has been postponed indefinitely. That announcement this week from SSETI Express Project Manager Neil Melville put a damper on the enthusiasm building in anticipation of the planned September 30 launch. Melville said the delay was due to a failure of one of the payloads scheduled to go into space during the launch from Russia.
 Finished spacecraft including the side protectors, which are designed to avoid damage to the solar cells. [ESA/SSETI Team Photo] |
"Early indications suggest that we have a delay of at least one month, but this is not confirmed," he said. "This is, of course, very unfortunate, but it is not critical," he went on. "The spacecraft can easily wait for the new launch date without any significant problems, and we will fly it as soon as we can." The launch already had been put off by three days earlier this month. When it does fly, the SSETI Express, which also carries three CubeSat picosatellites, will leave Earth from Plesetsk Cosmodrome via a Cosmos-3M LV vehicle.
The Cosmos-3M will deploy the Topsat, China DMC and the low-Earth orbit 60 kg SSETI Express satellites. Plans call for downlinking AX.25 telemetry at 9.6 kb on 437.250 MHz and at 38.4 kb on 2401.835MHz. The satellite will be turned into a single-channel amateur FM voice Mode U/S transponder after the transmitter serves initial telemetry duty.
SSETI Express will, in turn, release the three CubeSats--NCUBE-2,
UWE-1, and XI-V. The XI-V ("sai five") package will include a CW beacon on 437.465
MHz and FM packet on 437.345 MHz.
 Last touches are made to the integration of SSETI Express. SSETI Express was built by teams of university students from all over Europe. [ESA/SSETI Team Photo] |
The ESA SSETI Express initiative aims to increase the number of European students working in the fields of space technology and science by giving them practical hands-on experience of working on space missions. Created in 2000, the SSETI Express program brings students from 21 European universities together via the Internet to discuss building and launching a satellite. ESA's role is to provide managerial and technical coordination. To date 35 teams from 23 universities in 14 countries are involved in the SSETI Program.
The SSETI Express Mission Operations Pages, the AMSAT-UK and the AMSAT-NA Web sites provide additional information on this project.
The ESA Download Page includes information on how to obtain the SSETI Express Radio Amateur Handbook by Richard Limebear G3RWL, published by AMSAT-UK. Available for downloading in either English or French, the 22-page document provides background information on the project and explains how radio amateurs can use the spacecraft and its three CubeSat passengers. The Download Page also contains software to enable enthusiasts to make use of the spacecraft along with the launch campaign logbook.
"We'll get there eventually," Melville optimistically
concluded this week. "Watch this space."
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