Fox-1A, AO-85orAMSAT OSCAR 85[3] is an American amateur radio satellite. It is a 1U Cubesat, was built by the AMSAT-NA and carries a single-channel transponder for FM radio. The satellite has one rod antenna each for the 70 centimetres (28 in) and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) bands. To enable a satellite launch under NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program, the satellite continues to carry a Penn State University student experiment (MEMS gyroscope).
| Mission type | Communications |
|---|---|
| Operator | AMSAT[1] |
| COSPAR ID | 2015-058D[1] |
| SATCAT no. | 40967[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | CubeSat (1U) |
| Manufacturer | Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) |
| Launch mass | 1.3 kilograms (2.9 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10 by 10 by 10 centimetres (3.9 in × 3.9 in × 3.9 in) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 8 October 2015, 12:49 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 401 AV-058 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-3E |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,020 kilometres (4,360 mi) |
| Perigee altitude | 504.3 kilometres (313.4 mi)[2] |
| Apogee altitude | 795.7 kilometres (494.4 mi)[2] |
| Inclination | 64.8°[2] |
| Period | 97.6 minutes[2] |
| RAAN | 178.6841°[2] |
| Argument of perigee | 312.3881°[2] |
| Mean motion | 14.757262270[2] |
| Epoch | 25 June 2018[2] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | FM |
| Frequency | Uplink: 435.172 MHz Downlink: 145.980 MHz |
| TWTA power | 400mW |
According to AMSAT-NA, Fox-1A will replace OSCAR 51. Upon successful launch, the satellite was assigned OSCAR number 85.
The satellite was launched on 8 October 2015 with an Atlas V rocket together with the main payload Intruder 11A (also known as NOSS-3 7A, USA 264 and NROL 55) and 12 other Cubesat satellites (SNaP-3 ALICE, SNaP-3 EDDIE, SNaP-3 JIMI, LMRSTSat, SINOD-D 1, SINOD-D 3, AeroCube 5C, OCSD A, ARC 1, BisonSat, PropCube 1 and PropCube 3) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States. After just a few hours, the transponder was put into operation, initial connections were made between amateur radio stations and telemetry was received.
Since December 2018, AO-85 has suffered from dangerously low battery voltage while in eclipse. As a result, AMSAT have disabled all on board transmitters in an effort to extend the usable life of the satellite. Transmitters are periodically turned back on to collect telemetry data.[4]
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