We have confirmed that the beacons we heard were indeed from MCubed-2! The overlay on the waterfall plot shows the Doppler shift that occurs as the satellite passes overhead. The center frequency is exactly 437.485 MHz, which is MCubed-2’s transmission frequency.
At 6:52 a.m., MCubed-2 made it’s first pass over Ann Arbor and we heard her beacons with the high-gain Yagi antenna! The ground station also picked up a satellite transmitting around 437.355 MHz. We will continue to track the GEMSat CubeSats and decode the beacons during upcoming passes!
The updated TLEs for the CubeSats are Continue Reading »
LIFTOFF of MCubed-2 aboard ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket!! The beautiful launch occurred precisely at 2:14:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The CubeSats are scheduled to deploy at 5:35, and we expect the first pass over Ann Arbor to occur at 6:50! Stay tuned for updates about the spacecraft’s status as we receive beacons.
The MCubed-2 telemetry and live tracking page is now available to the public! Amateur radio operators around the world can help the team by tracking the CubeSat as she passes overhead and listening to the beacons. Let us know what you hear!
The CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) began its Kickstarter campaign this week! MXL is working in collaboration with Prof. Benjamin Longmier and PEPL to demonstrate a new propulsion system powered by the Sun and propelled by water, which will push small satellites like CubeSats around and far beyond the Earth. Check out details of the project Continue Reading »