| Radar Fence Transponder | |
| Mission Type: | Communications |
| Operator: | U.S. Naval Academy |
| Cospar Id: | 2006-055C |
| Satcat: | 29661 |
| Launch Mass: | 3kg (07lb) |
| Launch Date: | 21 December 2006, 01:47 UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Space Shuttle Discovery |
| Launch Site: | Kennedy LC-39B[1] |
| Launch Contractor: | NASA |
| Decay Date: | 30 May 2007 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 228km (142miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 254km (158miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 51.6° |
| Orbit Period: | 89.3 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Programme: | OSCAR |
| Previous Mission: | OSCAR 59 |
| Next Mission: | OSCAR 61 |
Radar Fence Transponder (also called Navy-OSCAR 60 or RAFT 1) was an amateur radio satellite that was developed and built for training purposes at the United States Naval Academy.[2] The 3kg (07lb) heavy RAFT had a cubic structure of 12.7cm (05inches) edge length and therefore did not meet the Cubesat standard. Solar cells on all six sides of the satellite were used to supply energy. It had neither position control nor drive systems.
RAFT contained a receiver at 216.98 MHz for calibration experiments of the U.S. Navy Space Surveillance Radar. For amateur radio connections there was an AX.25 digipeater on 145.825 MHz with built-in speech synthesizer on board.
Two fixed antennas equipped with springs were used for communication and also as a separation system for the almost identical sister satellite MARScom. Furthermore, a 122cm (48inches) long wire antenna made of 0.5mm nitinol wire for the 10 m amateur radio band was unwound on shortwave during the disconnection process, with which the satellite received signals in the PSK31 operating mode.[3]
The satellite was released on 21 December 2006 with Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
On 30 May 2007, it was re-entered on Earth atmosphere.