On April 22, 2016 a Soyuz ST-A VS14 rocket launched by Centre Spatial Guyanais spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana will deploy three satellites carrying transmitters on amateur radio frequencies.

They are: 1. OUTFTI-1 carrying the first D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) payload. See following URL for details - http://events.ulg.ac.be/oufti-1/en/oufti-1/

2. e-st@r-II a digital cubesat with a 1200 Baud, AFSK, AX.25 primary telemetry downlink on 437.485 MHz. See following URL for details http://www.cubesatteam-polito.com/operations/radio-amateurs/

3. AAUSAT-4 from the University of Aalborg, Denmark will operate an automated ocean vessel identification system on 437.425 MHz.

Ray Hoad WA5QGD