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A package of two satellites carrying Amateur Radio payloads has been
deployed into orbit from the International Space Station as part of
a collaborative Texas A and M and University of Texas at Austin
research effort. Built by Texas A and M students, AggieSat4, or
AGS4, will release UTs Bevo 2 CubeSat in about a month, once it is
far enough away from the ISS. Both schools received support from
NASAs Johnson Spaceflight Center, or JSC, for the design,
construction, testing, and launch phases.  The goal of the
overarching LONESTAR, known as Low Earth Orbiting Navigation
Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking,
program is for the two satellites to individually rendezvous with
each other and perform docking and undocking maneuvers.  The overall
objective is to find ways for small spacecraft to join together
autonomously in space, Helen Reed, KD7GPX, professor of aerospace
engineering and director of the AggieSat Lab at Texas A and M told
NASA.  We need simple systems that will allow rendezvous and docking
with little to no help from a human, which will become especially
important as we venture farther out into space.  Applications could
include in space assembly or reconfiguration of larger structures or
systems as well as servicing and repair.  The AggieSat team received
its first beacon signal from the satellite at its Texas A and M
Riverside Campus ground station. The AggieSat4 team is asking any
Amateur Radio operators receiving the beacon signal to send any data
to the AGS4 team via email to, aggiesat at tamu.edu .  AggieSat4
will transmit 9.6 kbps FSK telemetry and 153.6 kbps FSK on 436.250
MHz. Once its placed into its own orbit, Bevo 2 will transmit on
437.325 on CW and 38.4 kbps FSK.  Both satellites were launched to
the space station during a December 6, 2015, resupply mission.
Earlier last week, Astronauts Tim Peake, KG5BVI, and Scott Kelly
made preparations to deploy the sizeable LONESTAR phase 2 mission
satellite package from the ISS, using the SSIKLOPS deployer. The
satellite mission also will demonstrate communication cross links,
data exchange, GPS based navigation, and other tasks. AggieSat4 will
capture images of the Bevo 2 release.  The Bevo 2 Satellite was
designed, built, and tested in the Texas Spacecraft Lab, or TSL, at
the University of Texas at Austin. This whole experience is very
exciting, TSL Director Glenn Lightsey, KE5DDG, said last fall as
undergraduate and graduate students were in the final stages of
their project. Its great to have a research program where our
students can build satellites that fly in space.  Reed and Lightsey
are co investigators for the LONESTAR 2 project.

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