SMART-QSO is not in orbit, and it has no frequencies yet. There is nothing to listen for today. There is useful work to do now, and this page says what it is.
SMART-QSO would be an FCC Part 97 amateur space station. The bands below are the ones the project will ask the IARU to coordinate a frequency in; they are not assigned frequencies. Downlink in 145.800–146.000 MHz (not 145.825 MHz); uplink requested in 435.222–435.778 MHz, or else 436.222–436.500 MHz. SQSO-BL-001 §7
IARU coordination request: Not submitted. Draft on the mandatory IARU v40 form layout: IARU_COORDINATION_REQUEST_v40.md SQSO-REG-001 §1
| Authorization | Status | Draft / reference |
|---|---|---|
| Space station licensee and call sign | KK6GDB, station KK6GDB-11 (decision D1, 2026-10-15) | Pathway determination §8 |
| Designated telecommand stations (97.211(a)) | None agreed; ≥ 2, at least 1,000 km apart, needed before the IARU request (written agreements due 2027-01-05, mission/SCHEDULE.md DA-10) | docs/ground/GROUND_STATION_DESIGN.md §3 |
| IARU frequency coordination | Not started; planned submission 2027-01-26 | IARU_COORDINATION_REQUEST_v40.md |
| FCC Part 97 pre-space notification (97.207(g)(1)) | Not filed; planned early filing 2027-01-19, replacement by 2027-06-30 | FCC_97-207_PRE_SPACE_NOTIFICATION.md |
| ITU API / notification (filed by the FCC) | Not filed | ITU_APPENDIX4_DATA.md |
| FCC Space Bureau consultation (D3) | Not yet requested; request due 2026-11-15, meeting by 2027-01-05, outcome recorded by 2027-01-08 (mission/SCHEDULE.md DA-11) | REGULATORY_ROADMAP.md §6 |
| Orbital debris assessment (DAS) | Draft; DAS not yet run; NASA DAS usage agreement to be requested by 2026-11-06, DAS run by 2027-01-08 (DA-06) | ODAR_SMART-QSO.md |
| NOAA remote sensing | No license required (internal determination); NOAA confirmation not requested | NOAA determination |
| Export classification | Self-classified, counsel review pending | Export memo |
| NTIA / NASA Form 1722 / DoD / NOAA spectrum coordination | Not applicable (no Federal frequencies) | — |
The planning launch date is about 2028-11-01. If it launches and is commissioned, any licensed amateur with an FM handheld or mobile rig and a small Yagi could work other stations through the transponder, in sunlit passes when the power gates open. Community and SatNOGS stations would receive and decode the beacon, with logs published openly. CONOPS.md §6
The beacon is a 1200 bps AFSK AX.25 UI frame from KK6GDB-11 with one line of plain text and a telemetry
tail; every value in it is a measurement, and an unmeasured field is sent as -.
BEACON_SPEC.md §1–§4
de KK6GDB-11: <text> | T=<s since boot> M=<SAFE|IDLE|ACTIVE> SOC=<%> BV=<V.d> SUN=<0|1> RF=<0|1> QSO=<count>A decoder is in software/ground/tools/beacon_decoder.py.
The mission needs at least two designated amateur stations at least 1,000 km apart, each able to command the spacecraft alone, with written agreements by 2027-01-05. None is agreed yet. A station must radiate at least 64 dBm EIRP toward the spacecraft on 70 cm and commands only above 10° elevation.
The CDR 2026 review was done by AI reviewers. The independent PDR, planned for 2027-01-12, needs a chair and at least two reviewers from outside the team, covering systems, electrical and RF, and flight software.
The boards exist as schematics. The plan needs two PCB layout designers (KiCad, IPC-6012 Class 3) to start in January 2027; with one, the schedule loses its float.
Every claim the project makes is in the repository with its evidence. Reading a document against its sources and opening an issue for what is wrong is the most useful contribution of all.
Flight software in Rust (no_std, unsafe forbidden in the protocol and logic crates), the
Jetson payload and the ground tools in Python. Tests run in CI.
Start with CONTRIBUTING.md: discuss in an issue first, then a pull request with tests. The project follows a code of conduct and a governance document; report security problems as SECURITY.md says. Amateur operation of the station is unpaid. SQSO-BL-001 §1