Source: EO-88 aka Nayif-1 | AMSAT-UK

AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL are delighted to announce that a FUNcube communications package has been selected as a major payload for the Nayif-1 CubeSat mission.

This mission is intended to provide Emirati students with a tool to design and test systems in space. It is being developed by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) in partnership with American University of Sharjah (AUS).

It is expected that this payload will provide a large amount of valuable environmental data from space together with a new, enhanced, UHF to VHF linear transponder.

The AMSAT team will be working closely with the Emirati students, in collaboration with support partner, ISIS – Innovative Solutions In Space B.V. from the Netherlands, to develop this new system in time for the launch which is scheduled to take place early 2016.

Looks like this new satellite is now available for Amateur Radio use. I have not had a chance to try to work contacts through it yet. Here’s the transponder information:

Communication subsystem

Inverting SSB/CW transponder 300 mW

• 435.045 – 435.015 MHz Uplink
• 145.960 – 145.990 MHz Downlink

Operational when in eclipse

Telemetry subsystem

145.940 MHz BPSK Telemetry 300 mW

Operational when in sunlight

More information about EO-88 may be found on the AMSAT-UK page for this satellite.

The 10th SpaceX International Space Station cargo resupply mission delivered investigations to study human health, Earth science, and weather patterns last Thursday. It also carried a new Ericsson 2-meter handheld radio to replace one that failed a few months ago, disrupting the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. The VHF radio in the Columbus module was used for school group contacts and for Amateur Radio packet, temporarily relocated to UHF after the VHF radio failure. ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said the new Ericsson radio will, at some point, be installed in Columbus, replacing the Ericsson UHF radio now supporting APRS packet and some school contacts. Bauer made it clear that the new Ericsson transceiver is an interim measure for ARISS.

Looks like the ISS will have crew Amateur Radio communications back sometime in the not too distant future. You can read the full article from the March ARRL Newsletter here.

Fred, AB1OC