SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-280.01 LAUNCH CONTRACT FOR PHASE 3-D SIGNED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 280.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 7, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-280.01 LAUNCH CONTRACT FOR PHASE 3-D SIGNED Orlando, Flordia, Oct 7, 1995 -- Dr. Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, AMSAT-DL President and Phase 3-D International Satellite Project Leader, announced today that all major contractual issues for the launch of the satellite are now complete. The final details surrounding the agreement for launch of the satellite by the European Space Agency (ESA) were unveiled during a series of formal kick-off meetings held on September 28th and 29th, 1995 at Arianespace Headquarters in Evry, France. Dr. Meinzer led the negotiations with ESA on behalf of all the AMSAT groups participating in the project. In addition, Keith Baker, KB1SF, AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President and Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Engineering, were present at the Evry meetings and took part in the final contractual and technical discussions with ESA and Arianespace officals. In his announcement, Dr. Meinzer emphasized that, "This event marks a major milestone in the Phase 3-D project as it establishes a firm cost, schedule and technical baseline for our launch. It is clear that the European Space Agency has again recognized the important contributions AMSAT has made to ESA's work over the years." Dr. Meinzer also highlighted the many provisions favorable to AMSAT in the recently negotiated contract when he stated that, "These conditions are all proof that the working relationship between AMSAT and ESA remains mutually beneficial." The contract calls for a firm launch price of some 1.3 Million Deutsche Mark (DM), or about $1 Million US, and confirms that Phase 3-D's primary launch opportunity will be via the second test of ESA's new Ariane 5 booster (Ariane 502). However, if for some reason ESA determines launch via Ariane 502 is not possible, the contract also calls on ESA to exercise their "best efforts" to orbit Phase 3-D on an Ariane 4 booster, no later than mid-1997. A recent ESA Press Release announced that Ariane 502 is currently slated for launch in September, 1996. Fortunately, the Phase 3-D design team anticipated this eventuality and constructed both the Phase 3-D spaceframe and its carrying structure (SBS) to be easily compatible with both the new Ariane 5 vehicle as well as with the venerable Ariane 4 booster. Launching Phase 3-D via the Ariane 4 requires the addition of an adapter ring (to be supplied by ESA) fitted to the bottom of Phase 3-D's SBS on the Ariane 4's upper stage. The recent meetings in Evry confirmed the feasibility of this approach, and ESA has now developed contingency plans to place Phase 3-D in orbit via an upcoming Ariane 4 launch sometime in late 1996 or early 1997 should that become necessary. Preliminary assessments indicate that, other than requiring an additional firing of P3-D's kick motor, changing launch vehicles to an Ariane 4 should have little (if any) impact on the satellite's ultimate orbit or planned transponder performance. While the final negotiated price for Phase 3-D's launch is somewhat reduced from earlier estimates, the cost of the launch still represents a sizable sum for an organization such as AMSAT. Fortunately, through the generous contributions of individuals and organizations from around the world, money is now "in hand" to pay the first installment of the launch bill, about 1 Million DM ($800,000 US) by November 1, 1995. This payment will confirm AMSAT's intent to launch Phase 3-D with ESA and reserve the launch slot. However, the final installment of the launch bill must still be paid sometime in 1996. While discussing the overall funding outlook for Phase 3-D, AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan emphasized that, "In addition to the final launch installment, we still need to raise more revenue just to complete the satellite and prepare it for launch. For example, AMSAT anticipates the final assembly, checkout and test of Phase 3-D along with conducting the launch campaign will cost an additional $200,000. These are all expenses that AMSAT does not have current funds to cover." "We must continue our efforts to both raise the rest of the funds to complete Phase 3-D, as well as to get the spacecraft ready on time," said AMSAT-NA's Keith Baker. Keith went on to note that, "It is clear that ESA fully intends to launch Phase 3-D. Our current contract even says that we must provide ESA with our SBS and concrete Mass Mock Up Unit if for some reason our spacecraft isn't ready to go when they are. While the ball remains firmly in our court to complete Phase 3-D in time for launch, I'm confident that we'll be ready." Information on Phase 3-D and other AMSAT activities is available on Internet at AMSAT's WorldWideWeb site: http://www.amsat.org/amsat [ANS thanks Dr. Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC; Bill Tynan, W3XO; Keith Baker, KB1SF; and Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, for the information that went into this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-280.02 AO-13 BECON INFORMATION HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 280.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 7, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-280.02 G3RUH Provides AO-13 Information For AO-13 Users ----------------- 1. The Engineering Beacon (EB) 145.985 MHz is ON from MA 0 to MA 40. This beacon is about 6db stronger than the general beacon (which is OFF), so facilitating telemetry collection at perigee when the omni-directional antennas are in use. The EB is PSK only; it does not transmit CW or RTTY. 2. The satellite's MA counter has been advanced by 78 sec to re-synchronize it with NORAD keps. 3. Re-entry keplerian elements have received their monthly update. They can be obtained by anonymous FTP from: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip Remember that this is a binary file, so you must use the "bin" command before downloading it. 4. G3RUH is unavailable until October 14th [Sat]. Please direct AO-13 management matters to Graham Ratcliff, vk5agr@amsat.org /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-280.03 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 280.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 7, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-280.03 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 06-OCT-95 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1995 Jul 31 - Oct 30 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 140 | Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 240 | Mode-B : MA 240 to MA 256 | Alon/Alat 228/-1 Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Oct 30 [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) NEEDS YOUR HELP! The ANS is looking for volun- teers to contribute weekly OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a regular basis and would like to contribute to this weekly bulletin, please send your observations to WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO area, WD0HHU @ N0QCU. Also, if you find that the current set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts. /EX