AMSAT has learned that the launch of RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E is set for December 2017. Going into space under the NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program, RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E is a partnership opportunity between Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Space and Defense Electronics (ISDE) and AMSAT. It is similar to RadFxSat/Fox-1B, which could launch in the next several months, and both RadFxSat CubeSats will carry radiation effects experiments.

The Fox-1E spacecraft bus will be built as part of the Fox-1 series but will feature a linear V/U (Mode J) transponder, instead of the standard FM repeater installed on Fox-1A through Fox-1D.

Twelve CubeSats constructed both by NASA and by several universities will be carried into space from Mojave, California by US Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne air launch-to-orbit system.

Fox-1E will be the fifth in the Fox series that AMSAT has built. Fox-1A, now AO-85, was launched in October 2015 and remains fully operational, providing science data from its onboard experiments and FM transponder service for the amateur radio community.

Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D are scheduled for launch this fall. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service