[amsat-bb] Re: 9 Cubesats selected for free ESA ride to space

[Bruce Robertson]

On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 11:29 AM,  <G0MRF at aol.com> wrote:
> Cubesats built by students from universities in Poland Spain Italy
> Switzerland Romania France and Belgium have been selected for a free ride to low  earth
> orbit.  The launch is scheduled on the Vega maiden flight from  Kourou at the
> end 2008 / early 2009  TBC.
>
> _http://www.esa.int/esaED/SEM2BPUG3HF_index_0.html_
> (http://www.esa.int/esaED/SEM2BPUG3HF_index_0.html)
>
> Thanks
>
> David

If their plans have not progressed too far, I wonder if we can
encourage any of these projects to use an s-band downlink. I know the
path loss needs to be compensated by a more directional antenna, and
that means pointing; and it's also the case, I believe, that the
amplifiers are not as efficient. They'd also have to take into
consideration the noise level in urban areas (though I don't think
this is yet at a level that will trouble LEO signal levels). Add to
this the fact that they'd have far fewer stations capable of receiving
the signals.

>From the perspective of the amateur service, though, having a few
university experiments making use of this band would colonize it very
nicely. And it would let us calibrate and exercise our s-band
equipment.

73, Bruce
VE9QRP