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INTELSAT
22 (IS22)
Intelsat 22 (IS-22) carries a dedicated Australian Defence Force UHF SATCOM
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Intelsat 22 (IS-22) is a Boeing 702MP geostationary communications satellite operated by Intelsat and positioned at approximately 72°E. It was launched on 25 March 2012 aboard a Proton-M/Briz-M launch vehicle from
Baikonur
Cosmodrome.
The spacecraft carries commercial C-band and Ku-band communications payloads, together with a dedicated UHF satellite communications payload procured for the Australian Defence Force
(ADF).
The IS-22 UHF payload was developed to provide narrowband satellite communications for Australian military users. The original payload configuration comprised 18 UHF channels with nominal 25-kHz channel spacing/bandwidth.
Regulatory documentation identifies an authorised UHF downlink operating range of approximately:
243.520–268.160 MHz.
There
is documented pirate/unauthorised activity associated with UHF
SATCOM channels, and IS-22 appears in current monitoring reports
where some transmissions are described as non-ADF traffic.
A
current 2026 UHF-SATCOM
database lists several IS-22 channels as active and identifies
some traffic as “RU Traffic” or “RUS”, rather than ADF
traffic. For example, it lists 253.725 MHz as 25 kHz, medium
strength, “RU Traffic,” and 257.775 MHz as 25 kHz, weak, “RUS.”
Intelsat
22 (IS-22) can reasonably be described as using a
bent-pipe/transparent transponder architecture, particularly for its
UHF hosted payload. It does not normally demodulate and interpret
the user's communications onboard. The intelligence and protocol
processing remain at the ground terminals.
From
an RF monitoring perspective, it is useful to think of IS-22's UHF
payload as a transparent satellite repeater.
Details
| Satellite: |
Intelsat 22 (IS-22) |
| Norad ID: |
38098 |
| Operator: |
Australia/Intelsat |
| Status: |
Operational |
| Frequency Range: |
243.520–268.160 MHz
- downlink (Military)
C Band 3625–4200 MHz (Commercial/government
satellite communications).
KU Band 10.95–12.75 GHz
region (TV DVB-S/DVB-S2/data/communications )
|
| Mode: |
Various |
| Altitude [km]: |
36000km
Geostationary at Longitude
72.12 |
| Tracking: |
https://www.n2yo.com/?s=38098&live=1 |
The published IS-22
UHF transponder plan:
|
|
Bandwidth |
Status |
| 243.800
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented
- Heard 18 Sept, 2026. |
| 251.600
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
| 252.300
MHz |
34
kHz* |
Documented/currently
reported 25 kHz - |
| 253.975
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented
+ currently active |
| 254.025
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented |
| 254.500
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented
+ currently active |
| 254.575
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented |
| 254.625
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented
+ currently active |
| 254.650
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented |
| 255.650
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented |
| 255.675
MHz |
6
kHz |
Documented |
| 257.575
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
| 257.775
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented
+ currently active |
| 260.550
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
| 265.675
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
| 265.850
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
| 268.025
MHz |
34
kHz |
Documented |
Reception Reports
| Date |
Time |
Frequency |
Details |
| 4 May
2026 |
04:22 Z |
243.80
MHz |
Russian radio pirates on
an Australian Defence Force UHF Transponder. satellite. Two-way activity.
Australian Defence Force UHF Transponder. Busy sky - close to UFO-11
that is only a few degrees away and as uses similar
frequencies the source was miss-intrepid as coming from
UFO-11.
This channel frequency appears to be assigned to IS-22.
|
|
Antenna: |
5 Element Yagi for 250MHz.
https://vk6ysf.com/yagi_250mhz_5el_20220925.html |
| Software: |
SDR Software: SDR++Brown |
| Speech
Note (Linux) speech-to-text tool that transcribe audio and translate between languages.
https://flathub.org/en/apps/net.mkiol.SpeechNote |
|
| Screenshot 1
Russian radio pirates on Australian Defence Force UHF
satellite transponder. Two-way NFM activity
on a 30kHz BW channel. |
| Date |
Time |
Frequency |
Details |
| 18 Sept, 2026 |
02:15z |
243.800
MHz |
Australian Defence Force UHF Transponder. Busy sky - close to UFO-11
that is only a few degrees away and uses similar frequencies. This frequency appears to be assigned to IS-22. |
|
Antenna: |
5 Element Yagi for 250MHz.
https://vk6ysf.com/yagi_250mhz_5el_20220925.html |
| Software: |
SDR Software: SDR++Brown |
| |
|
|
| Screenshot 2
30kHz wide channel noise floor at 243.800 MHz 20dB above the
general noise floor |
References
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OF PAGE
Page initiated 18 September, 2026
Page
last revised 18 September, 2026
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