Berlin – December 6, 2022 – The Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) today announced the winners of the payload competition for micro-rockets at an event in Berlin. Accordingly, seven companies with a total payload of 136 kg will take off on the first flight of RFA ONE. No other supplier of Microlauncher has been entrusted by so many customers with payloads for the first flight. (Source: RFA.space)
Among the seven companies that will be on board the first flight of RFA ONE is the ERMINAZ mission of AMSAT-DL:
ERMINAZ Mission, AMSAT-Deutschland e.V., Germany
The proposed mission is a syndicated multi-PocketQube mission with a total of 7 PQs) under the leadership of AMSAT-Germany. The project involves several EU countries, the community of radio amateurs AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-EA (Spain), ESERO-Germany (Bochum Observatory), Libre Space Foundation (Greece) and other non-profit EU organizations or institutions. They work to develop open-source space technologies for educational purposes and to promote, advance and develop knowledge about space. The use of PocketQube technology will allow them to maximize the impact of the mission and involve multiple institutions, universities and teams.
ERMINAZ is a “PicoBus” deployer with 7 PocketQubes according to the PQ standard (1PQ = 50x50x50mm).
The individual PocketQubes (ERMINAZ-1)
| PQ | Satellite Name | Owner | Downlink |
SANA SCID |
Call |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-1U | AMSAT-DL (Germany) | 435.775 MHz | 0x0016 | DP0SAT |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-1V | AMSAT-DL (Germany) | 145.965 MHz | 0x0025 | DP1SAT |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-1X | AMSAT-DL | 435.500 MHz | ||
| 1.5P | UNNE-1 (HADES-E) | AMSAT-EA (Spain) | 436.888 MHz | AM1HAD | |
| 1.5P | MARIA-G (HADES-F) | AMSAT-EA (Spain) | 436.666 MHz | AM1HAD | |
| 1P | SIDLOC-PQ-1* | Libre Space Foundation (Greece) | 401.500 MHz | none | |
| 1P | SIDLOC-PQ-2* | Libre Space Foundation (Greece) | 401.500 MHz | none |
* SIDLOC (Spacecraft Identification and Localization) is a project funded by the European Space Agency on non-amateur frequencies
ERMINAZ-1U, ERMINAZ-1V and ERMINAZ-1X
ERMINAZ-1 engineering model
Specification
- PQ standard: 1PQ = 50 x 50 x 50 mm3
- Mass: 250 g
- Orbit: ~500 km, SSO, 97.6° inclination
- Launch: not earlier than late 2026
- CCSDS telemetry, CW beacon, SSDV images, digipeater, S&F mailbox and possibly other modes
- Radiation Sensor BG51
- Bosch BNO055/08x triaxial accelerometer, triaxial gyroscope and magnetometer
- ERMINAZ-1U operates on 435.775 MHz
- ERMINAZ-1V operates on 145.965 MHz
- ERMINAZ-1X operates on 435,500 MHz
- Design based on LSF QUBIK (open source)
- Repository: https://gitlab.com/amsat-dl
- ERMINAZ-1U (UHF) and ERMINAZ-1V (VHF) IARU frequency coordination:
https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=968 - ITU Filing under BR IFIC 3028 in Special Section API/A/13684 (20.08.2024)
- IARU Sat Coordination under: https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=968
Partner
- AMSAT-EA (Spain)
- Libre Space Foundation (Greece)
- RFA (Rocket Factory Augsburg, Germany)
ERMINAZ-2
Completely unexpectedly and suddenly, another launch opportunity arose for three more of our ERMINAZ PocketQubes on a rideshare with SpaceX / Falcon 9 and UARX.
The launch is scheduled to take place in October 2026 (NET), after some minor postponements.
The three ready-to-launch flight models were integrated into the PocketQube deployer provided by Libre Space at UARX in Vigo/Spain in March 2026 and mounted on the OSSIE spacecraft. OSSIE (Orbit Solutions to Simplify Injection and Exploration) will be able to transport several small satellites into different orbits.
From the announcement of the flight opportunity, production of the components, assembly, commissioning, thermal vacuum and vibration testing, through to integration at UARX in Spain, we only had a few months for the three PocketQubes; our shortest satellite campaign to date!
ERMINAZ-2U operates in the UHF band (435 MHz), while ERMINAZ-2V and ERMINAZ-2X transmit and receive in the VHF band (145 MHz).
Frequencies and call signs
The IARU has coordinated the frequencies for ERMINAZ-2U, -2V and -2X in the bands allocated for the amateur satellite service. These frequencies should only be used for amateur purposes. All frequencies in the amateur satellite service are shared frequencies.
| PQ | Satellite Name | Owner | Downlink |
SANA SCID |
Callsign |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-2U | AMSAT-DL | 435.900 MHz | 0x0066 | DP0PQA |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-2V | AMSAT-DL | 145.920 MHz | 0x0064 | DP0PQB |
| 1P | ERMINAZ-2X | AMSAT-DL | 145.960 MHz | 0x004F | DP0PQC |
ERMINAZ-2 Specification
The design of the satellites is identical to those of ERMINAZ-1U and ERMINAZ-1V (see specification above).
- PQ standard: 1PQ = 50 x 50 x 50 mm3
- Mass: 250 g
- Orbit: perigee 500 km, apogee 600, SSO, 97° inclination, period 95 min.
- Launch: NET October 2026 with SpaceX / Falcon 9 (Transporter-18) from US.
- ITU Filing for Satellite Network: ERMINAZ-2
- IARU Sat Coordination under: https://iaru.amsat-uk.org/finished_detail.php?serialnum=1014
Open Source Project
Our projects have always been open source and will of course remain so in the future.
The complete ERMINAZ Hardware & Software Repository is published here: https://gitlab.com/amsat-dl/erminaz
Further information will follow …
Work on the project, including completion and flight acceptance, is currently in full swing and is taking up every spare minute of the ERMINAZ team’s time. All team members work on the project on a voluntary basis and as soon as time allows, we will continue to update this page – thank you for your understanding!