ARLA/CLUSTER: Dois CubeSats construídos na África do Sul próximo do seu lançamento

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Two South African built satellites about to be launched

The South African satellite industry is taking another step forward as
a player in the international space arena with the launch of two South
African built nanosatellites from Cape Canaveral in Florida USA.

Two CubeSats, 'nSight1' designed and manufactured by Cape Town-based
SCS Space, a member of the SCS Aerospace Group and 'ZA-Aerosat'
designed and manufactured by CubeSpace of the Stellenbosch University,
are to be launched as part of a batch totalling 28 CubeSats from 23
different countries

The launch is set for 18 April 2017 at 17:11 South African time. Their
initial destination is the International Space Station (ISS), where
they will be unloaded by the ISS crew with the help of robotic arms.
The satellites will eventually be deployed into low-earth orbit over a
period of 30 to 60 days as the ISS orbits the Earth.

Both the South African satellites are part of the QB50 project funded
by the European Union and managed by the von Karman Institute to
conduct research in the lower thermosphere between 200 to 380 km
altitude. The data collected from this experiment over a period of 18
months will be used to complement current atmospheric models
especially applicable to re-entry trajectories of spacecraft. All
CubeSats will eventually burn up at the end of their operational
lifetimes.

All the CubeSats in the QB50 project will mainly operate on
frequencies in the 2 m and 70 cm amateur bands. To avoid interference
to terrestrial amateur radio activity the frequency was coordinated by
the IARU Satellite Adviser and his advisory panel.

** RF Noise Floor Workshop. The half-day workshop to discuss the
increasing levels in the RF Noise Floor will be held on Saturday 22
April at the SARL National Amateur Radio Centre starting at 08:30 for
09:00. The agenda and registration form can be downloaded from
www.sarl.org.za.

The workshop is sponsored by the South African Radio league as a
service to amateur radio. Attendance is free but registration is
requested to assist with catering and seating arrangements.

The SARL has this week finalised its investigation into the
interference created by load controllers deployed in the Groot
Drakenstein municipality. The outcome will be presented at the
workshop.

Other presentations with include measurement standards and the use of
SDR dongles in monitoring the amateur bands. The discussions will also
include the formation of a permanent work group.