[amsat-bb] Next Rocket Lab launch now 20th November UTC

[Mark Jessop]

So I've had further confirmation that APSS-1 will start transmitting 45
minutes after deployment, and will only beacon every 5 minutes initially.
Still no information on beacon formats.

Interestingly APSS-1 just moved to the 'finished' coordination list:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=669
I wonder how this got approved so quickly? (and after the original launch
date too...)

73
Mark VK5QI

On Wed, Nov 18, 2020 at 5:42 PM Mark Jessop <vk5qi at rfhead.net> wrote:

> I've made initial contact, but have received no further information than
> that provided in Terry's email. It's worth pointing out that the frequency
> this satellite is using is uncoordinated (IARU coordination was not
> completed), and overlaps with the frequency of FalconSat-1.
>
> Since we don't have any pre-launch TLEs, I've generated a TLE based on the
> information in the launch press kit (
> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/assets/Uploads/Return-to-Sender-Press-Kit-RL-Final3.pdf
> ).
>
> The TLE is as follows:
> 1 99998U 14900A   20325.07569444  .00000000  00000-0  50000-4 0    01
> 2 99998  97.3000  90.9426 0001454   0.0000 218.5000 15.21937999    00
>
> This is valid for a 2020-11-20 01:44Z launch. If the launch slips (as is
> fairly common with Electron launches), it will need to be re-calculated.
> This should be good for the first few hours, after which we should
> hopefully have a better fitted TLE based on radio observations.
>
> Information on how I generated the TLE (using open source tools) is here:
> https://gist.github.com/darksidelemm/60dd22c74ebe2e6d89bae9e6a845da5e
>
> Updates on post-launch tracking will occur in this thread on the SatNOGS
> forums:
> https://community.libre.space/t/apss-1-launch-on-rocketlab-electron-20th-november-2020/6950
>
> 73
> Mark VK5QI
>
> On Wed, Nov 18, 2020 at 11:33 AM Wendy and Terry Osborne via AMSAT-BB <
> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>
>> The weather at the Launch site doesn't look good for tomorrow so the
>> launch is delayed for a day.
>> See: https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1328800285498560513
>> The press kit here is worth a read:
>>
>> https://www.rocketlabusa.com/assets/Uploads/Return-to-Sender-Press-Kit-RL-Final3.pdf
>>
>> So far nothing new on the Auckland University satellite web page. The
>> only new information I have is that the downlink frequency is 435.1 MHz,
>> 9600 bps GMSK data, AX25 Space Packet Protocol, with ECSS Telemetry &
>> Telecommand  Packet Utilization Standard (PUS) encoding.
>>
>> 73,
>> Terry Osborne ZL2BAC
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>