OSSI-1
| Mission type | Research/amateur radio |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 2013-015B |
| SATCAT no. | 39131 |
| Website | http://opensat.cc/ |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 1U CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | Home made |
| Launch mass | 950g |
| Dimensions | 10 centimetres (3.9 in) cube |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 19 April 2013, 10:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz 2-1a |
| Launch site | Baikonur 31/6 |
| Contractor | Roskosmos |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 30 June 2013 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 6,778 kilometres (4,212 mi) |
| Perigee | 263.0 kilometres (163.4 mi) |
| Apogee | 552.8 kilometres (343.5 mi) |
| Inclination | 64.9 degrees |
| Period | 92.6 minutes |
| Epoch | 14 May 2013 |
OSSI-1 (standing for Open Source Satellite Initiative-1) is an amateur radio satellite launched in 2013 with Bion-M No.1. Bion-M was launched into orbit at 10:00 UTC on April 19, 2013, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with 6 small satellites, including OSSI-1. OSSI-1 detached from Bion-M at 16:15 UTC.
OSSI-1 is the pet project of Hojun Song, a Korean artist and amateur radio operator. He worked on it for seven years, designing and building the satellite using off-the-shelf components rather than equipment that had been certified for use in space. The most expensive aspect of the project was the launch, which cost US$100,000.
OSSI-1 is a 1U CubeSat with 100mm sides, weighing 950g. It uses an arduino microcontroller, a lithium-ion battery and a J mode UHF/VHF transceiver.
The satellite has a Morse code beacon transmitting "OS0 DE OSSI1 ANYOUNG" on 145.980 MHz and 4 LED lights with a total power of 44 watts to flash Morse code messages, using an open protocol. The project developers announced on 24 April 2013 that they had not yet received a signal from the satellite and were concerned that the Two-line element set they were using to locate the satellite might be wrong.
According to Korean amateur radio organisation KARL, Hojun Song had some difficulties launching a satellite as a private individual, connected to registering with space bodies and being allocated broadcast frequencies by the international telecoms regulator the ITU. A law requires knowledge of the launch date two years in advance which he was not able to give as he was sharing a launch with other experimental satellites. The amateur radio bands are nearly full but to use other bands would require more expensive specialist equipment and technical skills. In 2011 OSSI-1 signed a contract with a French nano satellite company for a turnkey launch service in order to secure a launch date.
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