IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination
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IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination |
| Marina | Updated: 17 Nov 2025 | Responsible Operator | Peter Hanak OM8WG | |
| Supporting Organisation | Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Aeronautics | |||
| Contact Person | peter.hanak@tuke.sk.nospam | |||
| Headline Details: MARINA is a 1U CubeSat mission to support the global amateur radio community with various HAM services and activities. The MARINA nanosatellite will serve exclusively to support the global amateur radio community. The nanosatellite is designed as an experimental and communication platform that will provide amateur radio operators around the world with the opportunity to communicate with each other via a digital transponder, while also enabling the reception of images of Earth distributed in SSDV mode. The mission is designed with an emphasis on accessibility for the widest possible amateur radio community. The satellite will operate in low orbit with a planned lifetime of 5 years. The primary goal is to provide a practical platform for connections between amateur radio operators and the reception of images of Earth, which were taken by an on-board camera, using SSDV. The project represents a significant opportunity for the amateur radio community, not only in terms of communication possibilities, but also education. Low requirements for ground equipment will allow the involvement of students, novice radio amateurs, and experienced operators. The satellite will serve as an experimental platform for testing new digital protocols and communication techniques in a real space environment. We plan to actively collaborate with radio clubs and educational institutions to promote interest in satellite communications and space technologies. The nanosatellite will operate in three basic modes. Approximately 40 percent of the time will be reserved for an active transponder, during which amateur radio operators will be able to make connections with each other. Another 40 percent of the time will be devoted to broadcasting SSDV images. The remaining 20 percent of the time will be reserved for telemetry transmission and reception of commands from control stations. The mission will be controlled from two ground stations, primary and backup, which will ensure regular communication with the satellite, monitoring of system status, and coordination of activities. The main service of the nanosatellite MARINA will be a digital transponder enabling communication between radio amateurs. The transponder will support GFSK AX25 G3RUH 9600 Bd communication, which has proven itself on previous Slovak nanosatellites GRBAlpha and VERONIKA. The transponder will have a power of 1 watt, which will ensure a sufficient signal level for ground stations with directional antennas. The second important service will be an Earth observation system with a camera that will scan the planet's surface and distribute the resulting images via an SSDV beacon. The SSDV protocol was chosen for its robustness against packet loss, which also allows for partial reconstruction of images in case of incomplete reception. The amateur radio community will be able to receive, share, and combine images to create a complete mosaic of images. This system will provide educational value while also delivering aesthetically interesting content for the entire community. The telemetry beacon will transmit housekeeping data on the status of the satellite every 60 to 120 seconds using the AX.25 protocol. All orbital parameters, telemetry data, and received SSDV images will be freely available to the entire community via the project website. We will also set up a database for sharing SSDV packets, where radio amateurs will be able to contribute their received data. We plan to actively collaborate with radio clubs and educational institutions to promote interest in satellite communications and space technology. The entire project will be implemented in full compliance with IARU rules and the national amateur radio license. We will ensure the regular publication of orbital parameters and frequency plans so that radio amateurs can effectively prepare for satellite connections. MARINA will provide these HAM services: • AX.25 telemetry • CW beacon • Digipeater • Anniversary/special occasions AX.25 & CW messages for community engagement • SSDV transmissions • SATNOGS integration, decoder, dashboard. Proposing VHF downlinks for the digital transponder and telemetry and UHF downlinks for the other modes. Planning a Transporter 17 launch Q2/Q3 2026 into a 500-550 km SSO. More info at https://om3ksi.tuke.sk/en/home/ | ||||
| Application Date: | 15 Nov 2025 | Freq coordination completed on | ||
The IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Status pages are hosted
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