HVDN Notebook: 64 Satellites: Can I get a ride too?

T- Minus 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...LIFTOFF!!!

SpaceX was able to put 64 various size satellites into orbit with only one Falcon 9 rocket. The total payload weighed in at 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms).

Jerry Buxton, N0JY of AMSAT pictured at the SpaceX launch facility.
AMSAT was responsible for the Fox1Cliff (OSCAR-95) communications
satellite available to amateur radio operators world wide

Payload Details

Of the 64 objects launched on December 3rd, the amateur radio Fox-1Cliff which is now known as OSCAR 95 is just one of many satellites, so here is the full list of publicly known 60 satellites and basic details, so let's get going.....

amsat satellite amateur radio student space

Lists: We love lists!

Not every satellite was a "CubeSat" which are normally 10cm cube weighing less than 4 kilograms.The largest satellite part of this launch was potentially the 231-pound (105-kilogram) KazSTSAT Earth-imaging satellite.

There was also the Elysium Star 2 which carries the remains of Robert Lawrence, an African American astronaut was selected for the U.S. Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory program.

#1 - AISTECHSAT 2: The second in the AISTECHSAT series and is a 6U CubeSat developed by Aistech to provide thermal images of the Earth. It will also help with maritime and aeronautical tracking as a prototype for a larger constellation.

Thermal imaging system is on board that is used in forest management, fire detection, gathering data for agriculture like identifying the health of the plant, analysing land for expansion. It can also detect energy consumption and loss of buildings.

The satellite also provides airborne and maritime vessel tracking via AIS and ADS-B receivers. The AISTECHSAT can also use a bidirectional communication system on board to send and receive automatic information from the vessel or remote asset worldwide.

For aircraft tracking an ADS-B receiver is on board. HVDN has its own ADS-B receiver that tracks aircraft in the Hudson Valley and is available to its membership. More information can be found here

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#2 - Astrocast 0.1: Astrocast is a planned network of Nanosatellites providing global L-band machine-to-machine (M2M) services. The satellites are orbiting in a low earth polar orbit. This allows the creation of a global network covering the entire globe, including the poles.

After integration of the NanoLink terminal, the ground based assets can reliably and securely send any kind of sensor data to the constellation of nanosatellites that will acknowledge the reception. Astrocast enables transmission of 1KB/day from any region on the earth.

A geographically distributed network of ground stations collects the data gathered by the satellites. The data are then uploaded to a cloud storage for access by the customer.

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#3 - Audacy: Audacy is building a space-based data relay network via a constellation of medium Earth orbit relay satellites along with our ground facilities. These satellites will maintain constant connectivity for our customers’ spacecraft from any point on Earth to lunar orbit

Details on 59 more satellites

Fantastic research has already been done by Gunter Krebs on all the other satellites that were part of this historic launch. Have a look at all his hard work at https://space.skyrocket.de/index.html

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Talk about stuff like this?

Care to talk with others interested in satellite communications and technology plus the experiments conducted up above? Here are some spots to check out related to amateur radio: