SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS004
ARLS004 UoSAT-12 satellite successfully launched

ZCZC AS04  
QST de W1AW  
Space Bulletin 004  ARLS004
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  April 22, 1999
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS004
ARLS004 UoSAT-12 satellite successfully launched

The latest Amateur Radio satellite, UoSAT-12, was successfully
launched April 21 just before 0500 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
aboard a converted Soviet SS-18 ICBM.  This marked the first time a
missile designed for war had been converted to peaceful purposes to
carry a satellite into space.

Word was received of the various stage separations and the
separation of UoSAT-12 after 877 seconds.  Keplerian elements will
be available soon.

The satellite was successfully switched on at around 1800 UTC and
copied on the 2230 UTC pass in Japan by Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK.  The
downlink is 9600 baud FSK and can be copied on 437.400 MHz.

UoSAT-12 carries a number of imaging payloads along with digital
store-and-forward communications on VHF and UHF.  Mode L/S
transponders will also be supported with a high-speed digital
downlink.
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