Thursday, March 1, 2018

D-Star One Phoenix Among 11 Satellites Launched from Russia




A satellite using the D-Star digital protocol was launched successfully from Russia on February 1,following the loss of a similar cubesat in a launch failure last November. According to the AMSAT News Service, the D-Star One Phoenix was one of eleven satellites from Russia, Germany and the United States carried into orbit by the Soyuz rocket.  D-Star One Phoenix was a joint project of German Orbital Systems and iSky Technology from the Czech Republic.
 
The AMSAT News Service also reports that a balloon carrying a WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) beacon, launched by AMSAT Argentina, completed its second circumnavigation on February 11, passing over Buenos Aires before heading out over the Atlantic for a third trip around the Earth. The last reported WSPR and APRS spots for the balloon were on February 12 as it crossed the South Atlantic, so it is uncertain whether it successfully made that third crossing.