Our three AMSAT-DL ERMINAZ satellites are in orbit :-)

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They were launched into space yesterday (Oct. 1) evening aboard the SpaceX Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. However, they are currently still inside the deployer on the OSSIE platform from UARX Space (Spain). It could therefore take another 7 to 30 days before they are deployed and can be heard (hopefully).

(c) SpaceX – The satellite currently flying away is OSSIE.

The official USSF SATCAT is now at 100000

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URGENT: We ran out of 5-digit catalog numbers with the addition of Saramago on 2026-07-11. We had estimated that to occur around 2026‑07‑12 back on 2026-05-09. The official USSF SATCAT is now at 100000. All newly cataloged objects will have 6-digit catalog numbers of 100000+ and GP data will not be available for them using the TLE format.

CelesTrak developed new formats that removed the 5-digit catalog number limitation (and finally fixed the Y2K problem) in May 2020 and immediately began providing GP data in those formats for software developers. Please be sure to adhere to our usage policy when retrieving any CelesTrak data. The same limitations apply to the legacy fixed-field SATCAT. That legacy format will continue to update but will only contain data for objects with catalog numbers below 70000. Be sure to follow @TSKelso on Bluesky for the latest updates, tutorials, and changes as we move forward. Spread the word!

Source: https://www.celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/

 

Alpha-5 is a stopgap object numbering schema from the United States Space Force that increases the satellite catalog’s capacity to display up to 339,999 objects in the GP/GP_History API classes using legacy fixed-width Two and Three Line Element Set (TLE/3LE) formats.

Replacing the 1st digit of the 5-digit object number with an alphanumeric character makes it possible to represent 240,000 more numbers. Objects less than 100,000 are unaffected by Alpha-5, as are users who download elsets from the GP and GP_History API classes in other formats like XML, JSON, KVN, and CSV. In order to preserve legacy operations that depend on 5-digit integers, our legacy API Classes tle, tle_latest, and tle_publish will not change to Alpha-5.

Only capital letters and numbers are used in Alpha-5. The letters “I” and “O” are omitted to avoid confusion with the numbers “1” and “0”.

Source: https://www.space-track.org/documentation#tle-alpha5

 

ARISS SSTV Series 32 “Cooperation in Space and World Peace”

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ARISS has activated Slow Scan Television transmissions from the International Space Station for Series 32.

The SSTV event of ISS Expedition 74, Series 32, organized by ARISS, is part of an ongoing educational initiative that allows people around the world to receive images transmitted directly from the International Space Station using amateur radio. Running from May 8 at 10:30 UTC to May 12 at 16:40 UTC, the event features the theme “Cooperation in Space,” highlighting international collaboration in human spaceflight. During this period, the ISS transmits a series of SSTV images on 437.550 MHz in the 70 cm amateur radio band using the Robot 36 mode, where each image takes about 36 seconds to send, followed by short pauses of 3 minutes.

 

 

You can also receive some APRS packets on this frequency:

1:Fm RS0ISS To 0P0PT1 Via APRSAT <UI R Pid=F0 Len=45> [22:10:39R] [+++]
'v&l SI]ARISS-International Space Station=
1:Fm RS0ISS To 0P0PT1 Via APRSAT <UI R Pid=F0 Len=45> [22:13:39R] [+++]
'v&l SI]ARISS-International Space Station=

ARICA-2 CW beacon

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15:21 UTC

00f4ecce9580
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cq cq de js1ysd arica2
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cq cq de js1ysd arica2
7fde078cca23601b
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cq cq de js1ysd arica2
7fde078ccc0f601b
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cq cq de js1ysd arica2
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cq cq de js1ysd arica2