[NLRS] ChipSat & Light Sail

[Doug Buhrman]

Thanks Jon!  I am glad you did as this does sound like a lot of fun!

Doug   K0DSP

On Tue, Dec 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM Jon Platt via NLRS <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
wrote:

> I try not to forward things to our club reflector, but this one sounds
> like fun.   See the ARRL space bulletin below.
>
> 73, Jon
> W0ZQ
>
> *QST de W1AW*
>
> *Space Bulletin 002 ARLS002*
>
> *From ARRL Headquarters*
>
> *Newington, CT December 2, 2025*
>
> *To all radio amateurs*
>
>
>
> *SB SPACE ARL ARLS002*
>
> *ARLS002 "Space Sailors" Seeking Download Help from Ham Radio Operators*
>
>
>
> *A group of students at Cornell University is seeking participation from
> radio amateurs who are equipped with satellite stations for help in
> listening for signals from a retroreflective laser sail that is scheduled
> to be deployed later this week. The sail is currently attached to a 1U
> CubeSat that was launched early Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from the
> International Space Station, but will separate and become its own
> free-flying spacecraft equipped with four tiny "ChipSat" flight computers
> that will transmit telemetry data back to Earth.*
>
>
>
> *This is the first flight of their ChipSats, and it is this data that the
> students seek help detecting, according to Ph.D. candidate Joshua
> Umansky-Castro, who has an amateur radio license, call sign KD2WTQ. The
> light sail's ChipSats will be transmitting data using the LoRa digital
> protocol on 437.400 MHz. The sail, stowed within the CubeSat, is expected
> to be released a couple of days after deployment - tentatively this
> Thursday, December 4 - and will likely function independently for no more
> than 48 hours due to the drag created by the sail.*
>
>
>
> *Additional information, including LoRa parameters and links to a list of
> compatible receivers and the decoder file, may be found at
> the https://alphacubesat.cornell. edu site
> <https://arrl.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0zNTAxODg2JnA9MSZ1PTUyODUxMDQxMSZsaT00MDc0MjI4NA/index.html> in
> the ChipSat Ground Station Guide located at https://cornell.app.box.com/s/
> n4se5ku0ltjb1of2piagfz1y7xa92n 47
> <https://arrl.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0zNTAxODg2JnA9MSZ1PTUyODUxMDQxMSZsaT00MDc0MjI4NQ/index.html>.*
>
>
>
> *It is hoped that the ChipSat and light sail will become the trailblazers
> for future missions around the solar system, and one day to our closest
> stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri.*
>
> *NNNN*
>
> */EX*
>
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