NanoSail-D2, carrying an Amateur Radio beacon on 437.305 MHz, is planned to launch November 20 on a Minotaur-4 HAPS rocket.
It will carry a 437.305 MHz 1200 bps AX25 beacon with one 1/2 second burst every 5 seconds. Power will be from primary cells.
The orbit will be elliptical, 685 km apogee and 340 km perigee, degrading to 200 km at which time it will deorbit.
Kodiak’s launch will be the third Minotaur IV launch ever conducted. It will also be the first to test whether the rocket can drop payloads at multiple elevations. After deploying its other experiments to a 650-kilometer elevation orbit at 72 degrees inclination, the rocket will continue to 1,150 kilometers to release ballast. The first Minotaur IV launch took place in April. The missile is made out of decommissioned Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The Kodiak launch is scheduled for 01:24 UTC (November 20).