Two ERMINAZ-2 Satellites Return Amateur-Band Signals After Early Deployment
Back to NewsTwo ERMINAZ-2 amateur satellites returned their first received signals October 3 after an earlier-than-expected deployment caught their ground team unprepared, AMSAT-Deutschland reported October 5. Reception in Bochum, Germany, and elsewhere provided the first telemetry used to assess the spacecraft after release.
The report identified ERMINAZ-2U and ERMINAZ-2V as transmitting and said their initial telemetry indicated good condition. ERMINAZ-2X had not been heard at the time of that announcement.
Deployment Precedes the Listening Plan
The three spacecraft launched October 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and traveled inside a deployment system on UARX’s OSSIE-D spacecraft. According to AMSAT-DL’s initial reception report, the ground team expected release at least a week after launch.
Instead, the deployment sequence began October 2. AMSAT-DL said the team learned of the change on October 3, leaving the earliest transmissions unmonitored. Signals were received later that evening.
Five-Centimeter Spacecraft Use VHF and UHF
Each satellite is a five-centimeter PocketQube weighing approximately 250 grams. The project’s published specifications describe an orbit ranging from roughly 500 to 600 kilometers above Earth, with a period of about 95 minutes.
The listed downlinks are 435.900 MHz for ERMINAZ-2U, callsign DP0PQA; 145.920 MHz for ERMINAZ-2V, DP0PQB; and 145.960 MHz for ERMINAZ-2X, DP0PQC. These are coordinated amateur-satellite frequencies shared with other users.
AMSAT-DL publishes the spacecraft hardware and software as an open-source project. For amateur receiving stations, the early signals supplied evidence that two spacecraft had begun operating after deployment. The October 5 status report does not establish that all planned communications services were available, and its unreceived status for ERMINAZ-2X applies to that report date.
Sources and Further Reading
- AMSAT-DL: Initial ERMINAZ-2 Signals
- AMSAT-DL: ERMINAZ Project and Frequencies
- ERMINAZ Hardware and Software Repository