09/28/2020

CAMSAT says the CAS-7A launch has been postponed until next May, and CAS-5A until next June.

"Because of COVID-19, many things have been delayed," CAMSAT's Alan Kung, BA1DU, told ARRL. He said an announcement would be made closer to the announced launches.

CAMSAT said last spring that CAS-7A would launch in mid-September; the launch has been postponed multiple times since first announced. CAS-5A was predicted to launch in October. Both satellites will carry two transponders that include HF, in a configuration similar to that of the Russian RS satellites decades ago.

CAS-7A will be placed into a sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98ø at 500 kilometers above Earth. The transponders will have aÿbandwidth of 30 kHz. According to the IARU amateur satellite frequency coordination page, the HF/HF linear transponder will uplink on 15 meters - 21.245 - 21.275 MHz, and downlink on 10 meters - 29.435 - 21.465 MHz. A CW beacon will transmit on 29.425 MHz. The HF/UHFÿtransponder will uplink at 21.3125 - 21.3275 MHz, and downlink at 435.3575 - 435.3725 MHZ. A CW beacon for that transponder will transmit on 435.430 MHz.

The CAS-5A nanosatellite, with a 6U form factor, carries two HF transponders and two VHF/UHF transponders. While in orbit, it will deploy the tiny CAS-5B femtosatellite, w which will weigh just 0.5 kilogram.

The array of CAS-5A linear transponders will include HF/HF, HF/UHF, and VHF/UHF with 30-kHz passbands (except 15 kHz for the HF/UHF transponder).

CAS-5A will include CW telemetry beacons on HF and UHF. The HF CW beacon will be at 29.465 MHz, and a UHF telemetry beacon will be at 435.57 MHz. Other beacons include the HF/HF transponder beacon at 29.490 MHz; the HF/UHF transponder beacon at 435.505 MHz, and the VHF/UHF transponder beacon at 435.540 MHz. Telemetry will be transmitted at 435.650 MHz. The V/U linear transponder will uplink at 145.820 MHz; the V/U FM transponder will uplink at 145.925 MHz. Terrestrial stations will access the transponders at 21.385 - 21.415 MHz.ÿ

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