We were pleased to receive the news that the Minister of National Development has accepted the extension of the stamp release plan for 2011 with the topic of the first Hungarian satellite, therefore the Hungarian Post is enabled to issue stamps about MASAT-1. We do not have detailed information about the exact schedule of the release yet, however, it is recommended to browse the Post’s homepage for the meantime…

The “Tarsoly” Association organizes a conference in Székesfehérvár on 8 April under the title “The Opportunities of European Space Research”.

The planned speakers and topics of the event are

• Leopold Summerer (European Space Agency): g): The next 50 years
• Mária Putsay (National Meteorological Service): The 50 years of satellite meteorology
• Emil Viktor Hödl (BSc student, member of the MASAT team): Our MASAT —The first Hungarian satellite under construction
• Zoltán Róka (Alcoa, European Acquisition Center): Information Technology in space Research
• János Tegzes (Infoterra Hungary): Everyday application of photos taken in the space
• Edit Herczog (EP representative, shadow rapporteur of the Galileo project): European space projects: a break-out opportunity?

The first Hungarian astronaut visited the designers of the first Hungarian satellite. The purpose of the discussion — which was characterized by a jovial atmosphere, going into professional details and sometimes recalling memories — was to learn as much as possible about the ISS (or MIR in those times) and about the potential start opportunities of the Russian LEO launch vehicles. The designers introduced MASAT-1 and pointed out that, due to the series of failed starts, it is remarkably difficult to find launch vehicles for the CubeSats. Bertalan Farkas was asked to help to find a start opportunity for MASAT-1 which is to be completed soon. We signed a launch contract in 2009; however, a start featuring the parameters laid down in this contract (Sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of 600 to 800 km, PSLV rocket) is practically not available in 2011. We definitely intend to explore this year’s launch opportunities that fulfill the aims of the project.

Due to the lightening protection works of our new station on building E, the antenna system had to be turned downwards, therefore it cannot be seen in the camera’s picture. The camera’s protection will also be under construction soon, therefore it may not always be turned on during the works.

The beacon of MASAT-1 operates again on the roof building V2 with a transmit power of 100 mW. Its frequency is 3.5 kHz higher than the nominal 437.345 MHz to prevent it from disturbing our measurements. It transmits a valid (fixed) telemetry package. The demodulator software can be downloaded from here.

Thus anyone who has a radio and a PC can test the station. You can inform us whether the test is successful or not by filling in a questionnaire on our web page related to this client software.