FW: [amsat-bb] Re: Will AMSAT be ready for the next disaster?

["Steve kb9ups" <kb9ups@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Good point Ray! AMSAT can't build and launch birds if we don't have the financial support. Also, even knowing the expense, what about a geostationary orbit bird? I believe it would have to be a collective effort to achieve, but worth the extra. Comments?


Steve/kb9ups
president SRRC W9MKS
AMSAT area coordinator
KB9UPS@excite.com
kb9ups@amsat.org
www.qsl.net/kb9ups

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From: RaySoifer@cs.com
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Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Will AMSAT be ready for the next disaster?
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Hi,

I'm no longer an officer or director of AMSAT, but I was around when the 
decision was made to go for Echo rather than putting all our eggs in the Eagle 
basket.  There were a number of reasons for that, most of which have already been 
discussed here ad nauseum, but for me (as a financial type by profession) the 
critical issue was that HEOs cost 5-10X more than LEOs (including launch), 
and after AO-40 AMSAT-NA simply did not, and does not today, have the funds to 
do more on a HEO project than R&D and preliminary design.  Not building Echo 
wouldn't have changed that significantly, and now we have AO-51 in orbit and 
fully operational.

I hope that everyone who posts messages saying "AMSAT should build a HEO" 
actually takes a pen in hand and writes a generous check to the Eagle building 
fund.  That's the only way I know of to make it happen!

73, Ray
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