Geostationary Es’hail-2 Satellite Set to Launch this Year

Launch of the geostationary Es’hail-2 satellite into orbit is planned for December 2016. The satellite will be placed in a 25.5° orbit. Coverage of the Amateur Radio narrowband (NB) and wideband (WB) transponders should extend from Brazil to Thailand.

Es’hail 2 will carry two “Phase 4” non-inverting Amateur Radio transponders operating in the 2.4 GHz and 10.45 GHz bands. A 250 kHz bandwidth linear transponder intended for conventional analog operation, and an 8 MHz bandwidth transponder is designed for experimental digital modulation schemes and DVB amateur television.

The NB linear transponder will have an uplink at 2400.050-2400.300 MHz, with a downlink at 10,489.550-10,489.800 MHz. The WB digital transponder will uplink at 2401.500-2409.500 MHz and downlink at 10,491.000-10,499.000 MHz.

For the X band (10 GHz) downlink, receiving stations will need anywhere from a 75 centimeter to an 89 centimeter dish. The narrowband transponder will be vertically polarized, while the digital transponder will be horizontally polarized. For the S band (2.4 GHz) uplink, narrowband modes such as CW and SSB should be able to access the satellite with a nominal power of 5 W into a 22.5 dBi antenna (75 centimeter dish) with right-hand circular polarization. For the WB uplink on S band, using such modes as DVB, a peak EIRP of 53 dBw (2.4 meter dish and 100 W) will be needed, with RHCP.

AMSAT-DL President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS delivered a presentation on Es’Hail at the 2013 AMSAT-UK Colloquium. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service via AMSAT-UK, and AMSAT-DL

Source:ARRL