XW-3 (CAS-9) Satellite Launch December 26

The CAMSAT XW-3 (CAS-9) satellite carrying a 145/435 linear transponder has been installed on the CZ-4C Y39 launch vehicle at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The launch is scheduled for 03:11:31 GMT on December 26.

XW-3(CAS-9) satellite will be piggybacked on the rocket with primary payload ZY-1(02E) satellite. The satellite orbit is a circular sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 770.1 kilometers and an inclination of 98.58 degrees, the running cycle is 100.14 minutes.

The functions of XW-3(CAS-9) satellite include UHF CW telemetry beacon, GMSK telemetry data transmission, V/U mode linear transponder, a visible light band space camera and an experimental thermoelectric generator for high school students.

Deployment from the launcher will take place at  at 98.858° east longitude and 28.413° north latitude at 03:35:58 GMT, location close to Western Australia. Radio amateurs should receive CW beacon and GMSK telemetry signals approximately 38 seconds after the satellite is separated from the launch vehicle, and then the linear transponder will be put into use after approximately 49 seconds.