ZACUBE-1
ZACUBE-1 (TSHEPISOSAT) · amateur radio satellite, NORAD 39417
Not heard todayZACUBE-1 frequencies
| Uplink | Downlink | Beacon | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | 437.356 MHz | — | FSK 9k6 |
| — | — | 14.099 MHz | CW 22 bd |
| — | 437.356 MHz | — | FSK 1k2 |
Nominal frequencies, without Doppler. The live map shifts them for your station during a pass. Frequencies: SatNOGS DB (modified: working amateur transmitters only, in MHz), CC BY-SA 4.0.
About ZACUBE-1
ZACUBE-1, also called TshepisoSat, was South Africa's first CubeSat. The 1U satellite was built by students of the French South African Institute of Technology at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town and launched on 21 November 2013 on a Dnepr rocket from Yasny (Dombarovsky), Russia, in the same cluster as FUNcube-1 (AO-73).
What makes ZACUBE-1 unusual is its HF payload: a CW beacon on 14.099 MHz in the 20 m band. It was built to help characterise the ionosphere and to calibrate the antenna of the SANAE auroral radar at the South African base in Antarctica. On HF the beacon can be heard on an ordinary shortwave receiver when it is switched on, and Doppler is small.
The satellite also has a V/u transceiver for telemetry and commands, with 1200 and 9600 bps packets on a 70 cm downlink, and an experimental camera.
Status
Listed as working, but nobody reported hearing ZACUBE-1 on AMSAT in the last 30 days.
From reports filed on AMSAT, last 30 days.
Orbit
| Type | Low Earth orbit |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 533–588 km |
| Inclination | 97.8° |
| Period | 95.9 min |
| TLE epoch | 2026-10-28 09:55 UTC |
Orbital elements: CelesTrak, checked every 3 hours.
Questions about ZACUBE-1
- What is the ZACUBE-1 downlink frequency?
- ZACUBE-1 transmits on 437.356 MHz (FSK 9k6) and 437.356 MHz (FSK 1k2).
- What is the ZACUBE-1 beacon frequency?
- The beacon is on 14.099 MHz.
- Is ZACUBE-1 active?
- Listed as working, but nobody reported hearing ZACUBE-1 on AMSAT in the last 30 days.
- When does ZACUBE-1 pass over my location?
- Open ZACUBE-1 on the live map and enter your Maidenhead locator or use GPS: the tracker lists the passes of the next 24 hours with AOS, maximum elevation and LOS, and shifts the frequencies for Doppler.