In response to a breaking opportunity, AMSAT and Spaceflight, Inc have arranged for two of the Fox series of CubeSats — Fox-1D and Fox-1C — to share a ride into space. Fox-1D will accompany Fox-1C on the maiden flight of the SHERPA system on a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle.

Fox-1D is identical to Fox-1C, but operates on different frequencies and carries the University of Iowa HERCI (High-Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument) radiation-mapping experiment as a hosted payload. Once in orbit, Fox-1D will provide additional selectable U/V or L/V repeater capabilities and will be able to downlink Earth images from the Virginia Tech camera experiment.  Launch is currently planned for the first quarter of 2016.

AMSAT has said its Fox-1A and Fox-1B CubeSats will go aloft as part of the NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program, which offers free launches to educational entities and encourages science missions. Fox-1A is scheduled to launch on October 8.

For more information on the Fox satellites, see “Fox-1, the New Era of Amateur Radio Satellites,” by Dave Jordan, AA4KN, in the July 2015 QST.