PW-Sat will go into orbit along with several other CubeSats early 2012, on board the new European Vega rocket. Launch will take place from the ESA space center near the town of Kourou in French Guiana (South America). This will be the maiden flight of the rocket. The CubeSat will be part of the main payload mission of the Italian satellite LARES (Laser Relativity Satellite).
Mission
It is a project of a picosatellite construction on the Basis of the Cubesat standard. It will be the first Polish satellite Entirely. It is of the big Rubik cube dimensions (10x10x10 cm) and Weighs 1 kg. Its assignment will be to Examine the possibilities of making use of the solar wind pressure and the background atmosphere in the circumterrestrial space to bring the old, used satellites back from the orbits. To this end, the PW-SAT will make use of a Specially designed sail, Which Will Increase significantly its aerodynamic drag and the surface Reflecting Light. The Obtained forces of resistance will allow, According to the constructors intention, then deorbit the satellite and cause its entrance to the atmosphere.
Sail release mechanism
Orbital parameters
Name PW-Sat NORAD ? COSPAR designation ? Inclination (degree) 69.486 RAAN 238.766 Eccentricity 0.0796068 ARGP 45.083 Orbit per day 14.06319864 Period 1h 42m 23s (102.38 min) Semi-major axis 7 250 km Perigee x apogee 295 x 1449 km Drag factor 0.000265880 1/ER Mean anomaly 191.950
Update 18-03-2012:
The satellite is not yet recognized, but unofficial information we have, says that the PW-Sat is an object called “2012-006G”.
Downlink
435.032 MHz, Beacon CW – Downlink On-Off Keying (OOK) CW (1kHz) 12 WPM
435.032 MHz, Beacon BPSK – Downlink BPSK (3 kHz) 1200 bps AX25 (1 frame every 20 sec)
435.032 MHz, Control communication mode. BPSK (3 kHz) 1200 bps AX25
435.032 MHz, Voice DSB (3 kHz)
Uplink
145.902 MHz, Voice FM (15 kHz)
Repeater
Voice Repeater mode – Uplink 145.902 MHz FM (15 kHz) Downlink 435.032 MHz DSB (3 kHz)
Status
Not active. Launched 13-02-2012 10:00 UTC and active. To be launched in Januari 2012 with a Vega rocket
Telemetry
The downlink is 145.900 MHz (BPSK 1200 bps AX25, SSB). You should tune your radio to find the proper frequency. Use PW-Sat GS Software to decode the Telemetry.
Homepage and other references:
Master website http://www.pw-sat.pl/ (Google English translation)
Amateur Radio information