Author: SM0TGU

Photo from AMSAT-DL: “… pictures from erminaz-2 transporting them to UARX for integration into the LSF Picobus Deployer”

Update:

ERMINAZ-2 Satellites in Orbit

AMSAT-Deutschland (AMSAT-DL) launched three ERMINAZ-2 nanosatellites on October 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellites were developed, built, and certified for spaceflight at the satellite laboratory located in the radome of the Bochum Observatory.

Each is a PocketQube 1PQ form factor, 50 x50 x 50 mm, weighing about 250 grams. They are in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 km and an apogee of 600 km

Their goal is o promote space knowledge and amateur radio via open-source protocols, telemetry, and image transmissions.

The frequencies and callsigns for the three satellites are as follows:

• ERMINAZ-2U: Operates in the UHF band on 435.900 MHz (Callsign: DP0PQA).
• ERMINAZ-2V: Operates in the VHF band on 145.920 MHz (Callsign: DP0PQB).
• ERMINAZ-2X: Operates in the VHF band on 145.960 MHz (Callsign: DP0PQC).

Re-post from ANS-270:

It’s official: AMSAT-DL’s three ERMINAZ-2 PocketQubes – ERMINAZ-2U, ERMINAZ-2V, and ERMINAZ-2X – are set to launch aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday, October 1, at 18:18 UTC (20:18 CEST), AMSAT-DL announced on September 25. The three spacecraft will be deployed from UARX’s OSSIE mission using a PocketQube deployer provided by the Libre Space Foundation into a 500 x 600 km polar orbit.

The trio shares an identical design derived from AMSAT-DL’s ERMINAZ-1 spacecraft, which were built on the Libre Space Foundation’s QUBIK platform and still await the first flight of Rocket Factory Augsburg’s RFA One from SaxaVord Spaceport in the United Kingdom. That makes the ERMINAZ-2 satellites the first of the ERMINAZ family to reach orbit. AMSAT-DL describes the build as its shortest satellite campaign to date: when the launch opportunity arose in early 2025, the flight models had to be ready for integration into the deployer within a matter of weeks. The satellites were originally manifested on Transporter-14, then Transporter-16, before settling on Transporter-18.

The ERMINAZ program is a syndicated multi-PocketQube mission led by AMSAT-DL in collaboration with AMSAT-EA, ESERO-Germany at the Bochum Observatory, and the Libre Space Foundation, with the goal of promoting, advancing, and developing knowledge about space and amateur radio. Each of the three ERMINAZ-2 spacecraft will transmit telemetry and science data from onboard radiation sensors and triaxial accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, downlink SSDV images, and provide a digipeater and store-and-forward function allowing licensed amateurs to use the satellites as relays to communicate with one another worldwide. Only non-proprietary, open-source, and documented protocols will be used, including CCSDS telemetry, a CW beacon with callsign identification, SSDV, and AX.25, along with in-flight experiments using GFSK, GMSK, and BPSK modulation at data rates from 600 to 19,200 bps and both CCSDS and IEEE 802.15.4 framing.

The IARU has coordinated the following frequencies: ERMINAZ-2U will operate in the UHF amateur satellite band on 435.900 MHz, while ERMINAZ-2V and ERMINAZ-2X will operate in the VHF band on 145.920 MHz and 145.960 MHz, respectively. AMSAT-DL notes that these frequencies are to be used only for amateur purposes. Operators wishing to decode the satellites will find that Daniel Estevez, EA4GPZ, added a decoder for the ERMINAZ family’s QUBIK-derived communications stack to gr-satellites in 2024, and telemetry reports via the SatNOGS network will be welcomed.

Transporter-18 is shaping up as a banner flight for amateur radio: AMSAT-EA’s UNNE-1B and HADES-L and Argentina’s UTNH-Sat are also manifested on the mission (see story above). Further details on the ERMINAZ program are available at https://amsat-dl.org/en/erminaz/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL and the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel for the above information]

Update 03/10/2026 16:31 UTC –
UNNE-1B and HADES-L deployed in orbit!

Re-post from ANS-270:

AMSAT-EA’s UNNE-1B (also known as HADES-E2) has moved to the list of completed coordinations on the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel’s status pages, with a downlink on 436.888 MHz and an uplink on 145.925 MHz now coordinated – just in time for a launch that could put three new amateur payloads in orbit next month.

Last covered in ANS-214, UNNE-1B is a 1.5P PocketQube built on the same hardware and software as the original UNNE-1, which continues to await a Rocket Factory Augsburg launch from the United Kingdom. The satellite provides an SDR-based FM voice and FSK digital repeater, opened by squelch level with no tone required, along with FSK data at 50-1200 bps, telemetry at up to 1600 bps, a CW beacon, and a CODEC2 digital voice message. AMSAT-EA has positioned it as the successor to the FM repeater service of SO-124 and SO-125, both of which have since re-entered the atmosphere. An educational payload developed by students at Universidad de Nebrija in Madrid will send one clue per week in the telemetry as part of a guessing game for amateurs to solve.

UNNE-1B is manifested on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 dedicated rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the launch brokered by UARX. Transporter-18 is currently scheduled to launch on Thursday, October 1, at 18:18 UTC.

Two more amateur payloads are planning to share the ride. AMSAT-EA’s HADES-L, an experimental 10 x 5 x 5 cm PocketQube reported in ANS-214, proposes a transponder with an uplink at 28.472 MHz USB – or alternatively on 145 MHz – and a 436.665 MHz FM downlink, capable of carrying a single FM voice channel or multiple simultaneous CW, FT4, or FT8 signals. And UTNH-Sat, from the Universidad Tecnologica Nacional Regional Haedo in Argentina, will transmit LoRa telemetry and a CW beacon on 436.850 MHz and offer an automatic LoRa ping-response service: amateurs who transmit a ping request to the satellite will receive a reply containing their own callsign. Both remain in the coordination process (see the coordination roundup below).

More info at: https://www.amsat-ea.org/proyectos/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-EA, the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel, and Exolaunch for the above information]

Re-port ANS-235:
Two Chinese science-education satellites carrying amateur radio communications systems are scheduled for launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on August 25 aboard a Long March 6C rocket.

The first, known as Jing’an Dream Star and carrying the JAMX01 amateur radio payload, is the result of a multi-year education project involving students in Shanghai’s Jing’an District. The project began in 2019 as an effort to give students hands-on experience with satellite development, radio communications, tracking, and spacecraft operations. Students and teachers are traveling to Taiyuan to participate in tracking and control activities associated with the mission.

According to the IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination database, JAMX01 was developed by students from Jing’an District together with amateur radio participants, with support from the Youngster Activity Center of Jing’an District, Shanghai. The approximately 50-kilogram microsatellite will support telemetry, digital image transmissions, and an FM digipeater. It also carries navigation lights and a kaleidoscope experiment intended for science-education activities.

The following frequencies have been coordinated for JAMX01:

145.950 MHz – FM digipeater uplink
435.075 MHz – beacon and SSTV downlink
435.175 MHz – FM digipeater downlink
435.500 MHz – telemetry downlink

IARU frequency coordination for JAMX01 was completed on January 6, 2025.

Shanghai officials say the spacecraft is expected to operate at approximately 500 kilometers altitude. Project organizers also describe several unusual educational experiments aboard the satellite, including a system designed to make the spacecraft visible as a flashing point of light, a kaleidoscope payload, and recorded youth voices for use in space-based broadcasts.

A second educational microsatellite, BY70-4, also known as 8104, BY-04, and Harbin MicroSat, is expected to fly on the same launch. The spacecraft was developed by the LilacSat Team at Harbin Institute of Technology and has a mass of approximately 18.7 kilograms. SatNOGS lists a high-definition camera, miniature camera, polarization camera, educational display, and short-message transponder among its payloads. The miniature camera is capable of JPEG and SSDV image transmission.

SatNOGS currently lists a UHF telemetry downlink for BY70-4 on 437.443 MHz using 9600 bps BPSK, with a format compatible with ASRTU-1. The spacecraft team has said in the Libre Space Community that BY70-4 is intended to share the frequency coordination previously used by BY70-3, which has reentered. The public IARU coordination database, however, presently shows the 437.443 MHz coordination under BY70-3 and does not contain a separate BY70-4 record. Operators should therefore watch for any additional coordination or operating information issued before or after launch.

Information on JAMX01 is available from the IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination database at:
https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/formal_detail.php?serialnum=1009

The Shanghai Jing’an District announcement is available at:
https://www.jingan.gov.cn/sy/004009/004009010/004009010001/20260813/f8989d84-fce0-46e6-afba-c4e654267a9d.html

SatNOGS information for BY70-4 is available at:
https://db.satnogs.org/satellite/EMBU-7314-7883-5821-1365/

Launch discussion and spacecraft-team information are available from the Libre Space Community at:
https://community.libre.space/t/cz-6c-launches-jamx01-2026-08-25-03-30utc/15173

[ANS thanks the Shanghai Jing’an District Government, the IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination service, SatNOGS, and members of the Libre Space Community for the above information]

Re-post from ANS-214:

On July 7th, 2026, the MARMOTSat satellite was launched on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Developed by the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research, the satellite carries a 2m digipeater and beacon, and a 10m beacon, and DVB-S2 video and ionospheric sounding experiments.

At the request of the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research, AMSAT hereby designates MARMOTSat as Canada-OSCAR 128 (CO-128). We congratulate the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

CO-128 remains in commissioning following its successful launch. Amateurs interested in assisting with payload commissioning can contact the UVic Propagation Laboratory. Frequency and experiment details are maintained at https://www.propagationlab.ca/satellite/ and https://www.marmotsat.ca. Full experiment schedules are expected later in Q3 2026 once commissioning advances. 

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT President and OSCAR Number Administrator, and the CO-128 team for the above information]

Repost from ANS-200 but very important to repeat:

The U.S. Space Force’s authoritative satellite catalog entered a new era on July 11, 2026, when newly assigned catalog numbers advanced from the five-digit sequence ending at 69,999 directly to six-digit catalog number 100,000. Space-Track announced the change and advised users to review its Alpha-5 information and frequently asked questions to ensure that Two-Line Element (TLE) and Three-Line Element (3LE) parsers, along with API queries, remain compatible with the expanded numbering system. The milestone marks the beginning of permanent six-digit catalog numbers for newly cataloged space objects.

The milestone was reached with the cataloging of Saramago, also known as Lusíada 3, one of four Portuguese communications satellites developed by LusoSpace. Named in honor of Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago, the satellite is part of the Lusíada constellation, which uses Automatic Identification System (AIS) and VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) technology to improve maritime safety, vessel tracking, weather reporting, and ocean data services. The transition occurred one day earlier than CelesTrak had predicted.

Although the traditional TLE format has served the satellite community for decades, its fixed-field design was never intended to accommodate six-digit catalog numbers. Space-Track is maintaining compatibility through its Alpha-5 encoding system, while CelesTrak will distribute General Perturbations (GP) data for catalog numbers 100,000 and above using modern formats such as JSON, XML, CSV, and Key-Value Notation (KVN). These newer formats also eliminate the long-standing two-digit year limitation inherited from the legacy TLE format.

CelesTrak began supporting the modern GP formats in May 2020, giving software developers several years to prepare for the eventual transition. AMSAT likewise anticipated the change by introducing GP data distribution through its Orbital Elements service. Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, announced that AMSAT would provide orbital elements in JSON, XML, and KVN formats while continuing to publish traditional TLE bulletins indefinitely for satellites cataloged before the six-digit transition.

For most amateur satellite operators, the change will be largely transparent when tracking existing satellites. However, software that assumes all catalog numbers contain no more than five numeric digits may require updates before it can process newly cataloged spacecraft. Developers and operators of satellite tracking applications, automated ground stations, and custom scripts are encouraged to verify compatibility with Alpha-5 encoded TLEs or one of the newer GP data formats.

While the transition may appear to be a simple numbering change, it represents one of the most significant updates to satellite orbital data distribution in decades. As launch rates continue to increase and the number of tracked satellites and debris objects grows, six-digit catalog numbers and modern orbital data formats will ensure the U.S. Space Force’s authoritative satellite catalog continues to support both the amateur and professional space communities for years to come.

### For More Information

AMSAT General Perturbations data:
https://newark192.amsat.org/gpdata/current/

CelesTrak General Perturbations data formats:
https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php

Space-Track Alpha-5 information and frequently asked questions:
https://www.space-track.org/

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Dr. T.S. Kelso of CelesTrak, and Space-Track for the above information]