ExseedSat-1 Amateur Radio CubeSat (VO-96)
Description
ExseedSat-1 (OSCAR designation VO-96 / VUsat-OSCAR 96) is India's first privately built and operated satellite, launched December 3, 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 (SSO-A rideshare mission) from Vandenberg AFB into a polar sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 600 km altitude. Built by a team of 8 scientists from Exseed Space (now Satellize) in approximately 4 months at a cost of roughly ₹2 crore (~$240,000 USD), the satellite is a 1U CubeSat (10 × 10 × 10 cm, ~1 kg) constructed from aluminium alloy and equipped with a multifunction UHF/VHF amateur radio transponder payload. ExseedSat-1 serves the global ham radio community by providing an FM-mode transponder, an APRS digipeater (VHF downlink on 145.900 MHz), and a CW (Morse code) beacon — transmitting 'V' in Morse followed by radio teletype (RTTY) telemetry every minute. Solar cells provide average 2.8 W power with selectable transmit power of 0.5 W or 1 W. ExseedSat-1 is intended to provide backup emergency communications capability when conventional terrestrial infrastructure fails. As India's first private satellite, it demonstrated that a small team with limited resources could build and operate a functioning spacecraft — proving the commercial viability of low-cost CubeSat manufacturing in India and laying the groundwork for Satellize's broader nanosatellite platform offering.
Specifications
| Form factor | 1U CubeSat (10 × 10 × 10 cm) |
|---|---|
| Mass | ~1 kg |
| Material | Aluminium alloy |
| Orbit | Polar SSO, ~600 km altitude |
| Launch date | December 3, 2018 |
| Launch vehicle | SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 (SSO-A mission) |
| Oscar designation | VO-96 (VUsat-OSCAR 96) |
| Beacon frequency | 145.900 MHz FM |
| Payload | UHF/VHF NBFM amateur radio transponder; APRS digipeater; CW beacon (Morse 'V' + RTTY telemetry) |
| Solar power | ~2.8 W average from solar cells |
| Tx power | 0.5 W or 1 W (selectable) |
| Ctcss squelch | 67 Hz |
| Estimated lifetime | 2–5 years (battery-dependent) |
| Build cost | ~₹2 crore (~$240,000 USD) |
| Build time | ~4 months, team of 8 |