SSETI Express Update

The SSETI Express spacecraft that will be carrying an Amateur Radio U/S FM transponder is scheduled for launch on August 25th.

The preliminary pre-launch Keplerian elements for the Cosmos launch have now been released:

SSETI1
1 33001U 05066C 05237.44790000 -.00000001 00000-0 10000-4 0 16
2 33001 98.1900 134.5000 0000001 0.0000 0.0000 14.60830000 00013

These are only provisional and maybe refined nearer the launch date!

This satellite is sponsored by the Education Office of the European Space Agency and is the first in a series of student built satellite projects that are underway. Their next project "ESEO" is scheduled for 2007/8 launch into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

For the SSETI Express programme ESA are very keen to have as many amateurs contributing received downlinked telemetry on 437MHz and 2.4GHz to a central database. They recognise that our "worldwide" network is a unique facility that is not otherwise available to them

A new website giving full details of the telemetry, how to decode it and how to forward it to the SSETI database is being currently being developed and initial information should be made available within the next four weeks.

In the meantime we can further report that the launch is expected to be broadcast live on this "free to air" satellite downlink.

Astra 1 G at 19.2 degrees east:

Transponder: 1.108
Reception frequency: 12551.50 MHz
Polarization: Vertical
Symbolrate: 22Msymb/s
FEC: 5/6
TS_ID: 1108
ON_ID: 1
Service Name: ESA
Service provider: ASTRA
Service_ID: 12140
TXT: none

As this only covers Europe we are also hoping to be able to stream the sound and video over the internet - more news will follow on this nearer the time.

AMSAT-UK produce a newsletter which is packed full of Amateur Satellite information.

For more details contact the secretary Jim Heck G3WGM
Tel: 01258 453959
Email: g3wgm@amsat.orgg3wgm@amsat.org
Website: http://www.uk.amsat.org/

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