ExseedSat-1 is a 1U CubeSat built by an eight-person team at Exseed Space Innovations Private Limited, based in Hyderabad, India.
The company was founded last year by CEO Kris Nair and CTO Ashhar Farhan, with offices in Mumbai and the Netherlands.
The goal is to provide a multifunction UHF/VHF NBFM (Narrow Band Frequency Modulation) amateur communication satellite. It will have various configurable modes, including UHF to VHF, single channel, narrow band FM transponder with CTCSS, 67 Hz squelch. The power output is selectable between 1 watt and 0.5 watt. It also has a digipeat feature with APRS on UHF uplink and VHF downlink. In melody mode it will play a simple melody of a few notes on special occasions or events.
The satellite is expected to have a life of two years, depending upon how long the battery lasts and when the satellite de-orbits naturally.
The one-kg satellite is to be launched on Spaceflight Industry's SSO-A multi-satellite launch on a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base at California.
The satellite is to be set in polar orbit around the Earth. A 10-cm cube, ExseedSAT-1 is the first Indian attempt at a satellite without any involvement from ISRO.
ExseedSat-1 carries an Amateur Radio FM transponder and APRS digipeater, with a repeater, digipeater, and telemetry downlink of 145.900 MHz FM, and a repeater and digipeater uplink of 435.340 MHz.
ExseedSAT 1, which is expected to provide a major boost to private radio operators after HAMSAT ceased operations about four years ago, was built with the contributions of several Ham operators and with the help small firms in and around Hyderabad, says Farhan, whose brainchild the satellite is.
"We spent almost two years working on it, with Exseed spending about Rs 2 crore, and it is the first such private satellite built without technological or financial support from government agencies like ISRO. Exseed has come up with all the technological components on its own," Farhan said.
Exseed SAT 1 operates on very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) signals and will take UHF signals up and transmit VHF signals back down, thus enabling easy communication for private radio operators.
“The satellite provides a major boost to private radio operators. It is fully functional as a communications satellite to help co-ordinate messaging between ham radio enthusiasts and help the country in time of disasters,” said Nair, who is working towards setting up India’s first contract satellite manufacturing facility that will cater to the demands of manufacturing cubesats, nano-sats and micro-sats.
Exseed Space was funded by a Mumbai finance company named First Cheque, who is also in the early stages of helping 100 new startups over the course of the next five years in India.
ExseedSAT 1 will take the place of HAMSAT, which had stopped functioning four years ago. It will be a great support to ham operators, as it will function on very high and ultra-high frequency signals.
The satellite will provide services and functionality to the amateur (ham) radio community around the world, which would typically be very useful in times of emergencies and natural disasters.
Unlike any other commercially available communication systems, amateur radio is not affected by terrestrial systems that could fail.
India has previously launched a ham radio satellite called HAMSAT by amateur radio operators’ collective Amsat India, in collaboration with both ISRO and the Netherlands.
ExseedSAT-1 is not being launched on an ISRO rocket due to a slot not being available.
Sources:
6.https://www.moneymakers.com/indias-first-homegrown-satellite-by-exseed-space-to-launch-on-tuesday/
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