It’s getting even busier in space. Indonesia’s IARU Amateur Radio society ORARI reports that the LAPAN-A2/ORARI satellite was launched on Monday, September 28, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India.

LAPAN-A2 is in a 650 km orbit and takes about 110 minutes to orbit Earth. The low inclination equatorial orbit of 6° to 8° means it will be receivable only from about 30° N to 30° S, limiting the satellite’s accessibility to users outside of that footprint.

LAPAN-A2 has been heard. It now is undergoing activation and systems testing, and it is expected to be 1 month before the Amateur Radio FM transponder will be generally available.

The primary aims of the mission are Earth observation using an RGB camera and maritime traffic monitoring using AIS — both using frequencies outside the Amateur Satellite Service.

The telemetry beacon is on 437.425 MHz; the FM voice uplink is 435.880 MHz; the FM voice downlink is 145.880 MHz. The transponder runs 5 W. The APRS digipeater is on 145.825. Reports are welcome.