IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination

 
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HUCSat Updated: 01 Jul 2025   Responsible Operator Camryn Neches KC1WGG
Supporting Organisation Harvard Undergraduate Aerospace Collective  
Contact Person cmneches@college.harvard.edu.nospam  
Headline Details: A 2U mission. The Harvard Undergraduate CubeSat (HUCSat) is Harvard University’s first CubeSat project. Selected in the 2022-2023 round of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), HUCSat is developed by members of the Harvard Undergraduate Aerospace Collective, an undergraduate student engineering organization at Harvard University. The overall goals of the HUCSat mission are: 1) Demonstrate the efficacy of LoRa for spacecraft telemetry and command, furthering the radio arts and providing a template for other amateur operators and satellite hobbyists in building their own very low power satellites and ground stations. 2) Support amateurs using the published LoRa modulation and packet structures on our website to relay their own packets through HUCSat. 3) On orbit experimentation with a method for deploying and periodically orienting solar panels using Nickel Titanium (a.k.a. nitinol, a shape-memory alloy) springs. The nitinol spring array will be selectively actuated throughout the orbital cycle to orient the solar panel faces toward the sun. The Harvard Undergraduate CubeSat (HUCSat) is Harvard University’s first CubeSat project. Selected in the 2022-2023 round of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), HUCSat is developed by members of the Harvard Undergraduate Aerospace Collective, an undergraduate student engineering organization at Harvard University. The overall goals of the HUCSat mission are: 1) Demonstrate the efficacy of LoRa for spacecraft telemetry and command, furthering the radio arts and providing a template for other amateur operators and satellite hobbyists in building their own very low power satellites and ground stations. 2) Support amateurs using the published LoRa modulation and packet structures on our website to relay their own packets through HUCSat. 3) On orbit experimentation with a method for deploying and periodically orienting solar panels using Nickel Titanium (a.k.a. nitinol, a shape-memory alloy) springs. The nitinol spring array will be selectively actuated throughout the orbital cycle to orient the solar panel faces toward the sun. The HUCSat mission is an amateur and educational mission. The project has been initiated and developed entirely by undergraduate students, most of which already have HAM radio licenses or are studying to obtain HAM radio licenses. The mission will continue to demonstrate the efficacy of LoRa for spacecraft telemetry and command, which can inspire and assist other amateur operators and satellite hobbyists in building their own CubeSat projects. Furthermore, amateurs using the published LoRa modulation and packet structures on our website could relay their own packets through HUCSat, As with all amateur satellite missions, the prospect of receiving a telemetry packet with their own equipment will inspire students around the world to pursue radio communications and spacecraft projects of their own imaginations. Proposing a 250/300 bps downlink data rate on UHF and 17 kbps on S Band. The telemetry beacons will be broadcast in packets in accordance with the TinyGS network of amateur LoRa ground station operators: https://tinygs.com/ More info at https://github.com/Harvard-Satellite-Team-Ground-Station/Harvard-Undergraduate-CubeSat Planning a launch to the ISS on Voyager Space on a Northrup Grumman resupply mission (NG-24) from Wallops Island NET April 2026
Application Date: 01 Jul 2025   Freq coordination completed on

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