Tuesday the 8th July, saw the launch of the UK Space Agency 3u cubesat called UKube-1 built by Clydespace in Glasgow, what makes this satellite even more exciting is the fact it includes a set of Funcube-2 boards covering both STEM activities and a transponder for amateur use meaning there’s something new to demo to people and use at the same time!

19:16 UTC was the first UK Pass and it turned up on-time sending its CW Beacon and then BPSK telemetry both super strong signals. It then did another pass at 20:58 UTC which was much higher and again using the Funcube Dongle Pro Plus was able to see both the telemetry and CW beacon transmitting away.

Spectrum Display of UKube-1 Pass

Spectrum Display of UKube-1 Pass

It’s great to see the 3u cubesat now in orbit and look forward to having a QSO via it in the future once it’s been fully commissioned.