PreSat and NanoSail-D CubeSats launch on June 23

Santa Clara University students invite amateur radio operators worldwide to participate with them by receiving beacon signals from PreSat and NanoSail-D, two pioneering cubesat missions that will launch from the Reagan Test Site (Omelek Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of Marshall Islands) on June 23, 2008 at about 7:00 pm PDT.

Both spacecraft will go into Low Earth Orbit as secondary payloads aboard a SpaceX Falcon-1 launch vehicle into a 685x330 km, 9 degree inclination orbit.

PreSat is a 10 x 10 x 30 cm. spacecraft, operating at 437.318 MHz FM, will send an AX.25 packet every 5 seconds. The mission will evaluate the performance of a generic biofluidic sample management and handling system for future advanced in situ spaceborne biology experiments.

NanoSail-D is a 10 x 10x 30 cm. spacecraft, operating at 437.269 MHz FM, sending an AX.25 packet every 10 seconds, will deploy a solar sail that also will be used as a drag sail to demonstrate orbital debris mitigation technology.

Amateur radio operators are encouraged to submit received beacon packets through the mission websites in order to receive a web-based QSL card:

PreSat - http://www.presat.org
NanoSail-D - http://www.nanosaild.org

Mike Miller, KE7EGC