ANS-224 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

In this edition:

  • 42nd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting October 24-27
  • QCWA Awards AMSAT Youth and Education Programs $2,500
  • VUCC Satellite Standing August 2024
  • AMSAT EA’s GENESIS-A Launched
  • NASA Seeks Student Missions to Send to Space in 2026, Beyond
  • Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for August 9, 2024
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat [dot] org.

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-224 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Aug 11

42nd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting October 24-27

Mark your calendar now for the 42nd Annual 2024 AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting, October 25-27, 2024 in Tampa, Florida.

The event will be held October 25-27, 2024 at the Doubletree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront. Special group rate of $169 plus taxes and fees is for a standard 2-queen room. Overnight car parking is an additional $20 per night.

Note: The block of rooms for the Symposium had not been released at the time of this publication. Watch for an announcement on how to make your hotel reservations later this week.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]


The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club coins are here now!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/


QCWA Awards AMSAT Youth and Education Programs $2,500

Responding to a competitive Request for Proposal by the Quarter Century Wireless Association, Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP-Educational Relations and Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT VP-Development submitted a request for funds to support AMSAT’s youth and educational programs. The request was fully consistent with the QCWA’s Mission Statement which reads in part “to promote interest in Amateur Radio communications and the advancement of the electronic art” especially among boys and girls essential to keep Amateur Radio and AMSAT’s ranks filled for the future growth of the hobby.

In response to its proposal, the QCWA generously awarded $2,500 to AMSAT on June 4, 2024 for its youth and educational programs.

Building on Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y’s ground breaking CubeSat Simulator, the QCWA contribution will help bring actual “CubeSatSims” to more classrooms, enhance instructional materials and to help build a network of online simulators to bring the benefits of this exciting resource directly to youth, their families and to educational resources of all types.

A portion of this generous gift will also be used to further the curriculum of AMSAT’s “KidzSat” program, designed to spark youth’s interest in space communications with its theme, “Satellites in Space for a Better Life Here on Earth.” For older youth the “BuzzSat” program uses Amateur Radio as the laboratory for hands-on experiences with telemetry, control and communications.

In recognition of the QCWA’s contribution to AMSAT programs, the QCWA was inducted into the AMSAT 2024 President’s Club at the Platinum level. Upon receiving news of the award, Karnauskas remarked, “Thanks to the vision of generous benefactors such as the QCWA, AMSAT is better equipped to help bring more youth into the exciting world of satellite communications and the benefits it can bring to mankind – Satellites in Space for a Better Life on Earth!”

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]


Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.

https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/


VUCC Satellite Standing August 2024

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for
May 13, 2024 to August 01, 2024.

DF2ET 1402 1500
N0JE 1206 1225
WI7P 1050 1078
JK2XXK 903 1036
EA2AA 931 954
FG8OJ 888 921
KK4YEL 768 799
N8MR 706 731
JS1LQI 617 701
N3CAL 637 653
N7ZO 600 650
LA6OP 600 632
IK7FMQ 550 626
AC9DX 525 625
EA3TA 503 607
N5EKO 550 581
LY4AA 505 555
AD2DD 403 517
KF2T 399 505
AL7ID 425 502
N6PAZ 400 450
AG4W 314 423
KF0QS 301 400
W9FF 284 400
K6VHF 350 376
KB3IAI 254 358
DJ7NT 234 348
AG1A 200 301
N8HRZ 102 298
KB9DAK 255 278
N4QWF 136 255
KH6WI/W9 (EN54) New 250
KB4DSL 127 226
K0JQZ New 205
K5WO New 200
WD9EWK (DM31) 195 200
KD8RTT 101 150
BI8FFH New 132
G4BWP New 123
ER1KW New 111
XE1RCU New 108
BG6HXD New 103
KK7OVF New 103
N6NU New 103
W4BB New 100

Congratulations to the new VUCC holders.
ER1KW is first VUCC Satellite holder from Moldova and KN46
KH6WI/W9 (EN54) is first VUCC Satellite holder from EN54
BI8FFH is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM06
G4BWP is first VUCC Satellite holder from JO02
BG6HXD is first VUCC Satellite holder from OM83
W4BB is first VUCC Satellite holder from FM04

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ, for the above information.]


AMSAT EA’s GENESIS-A Launched

AMSAT EA’s GENESIS-A module, attached to the upper stage of the Ariane-6 launcher, was put into orbit with the inaugural launch of the said rocket on July 9, 2024 from French Guiana. The module was programmed to transmit FT-8, which is, as far as the project managers know, the first time that this modulation has been used from space, as well as SSTV. Although its reception seemed impossible, a station located in Delft, the Netherlands, confirmed the reception and decoding of FT-8, as well as the reception of SSTV in orbits 3 and 4 that the stage carried out over Europe.

The station, belonging to the Von Storch Engineering company, has provided the IQ files of the recordings for analysis by AMSAT-EA.

Although the stage was expected to fall into the sea, this did not happen and the GENESIS-A module remains in orbit with the stage.

ESA was asked about the availability of power in the launcher stage and about the possibility of restarting the module, but the battery pack that powered YPSAT and the GENESIS-A module was completely depleted, so there is no real possibility of restarting it.

[ANS thanks Felix Paez, EA4GQS, AMSAT EA for the above information.]


NASA Seeks Student Missions to Send to Space in 2026, Beyond

NASA announced a new round of opportunities for CubeSat, developers to build spacecrafts that will fly on upcoming launches through the agency’s CSLI (CubeSat Launch Initiative). CubeSats are a class of small spacecraft called nanosatellites.

The initiative provides space access to U.S. educational institutions, certain non-profit organizations, and informal educational institutions such as museums and science centers, as well as NASA centers focused on workforce development, including the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. It also encourages participation by minority serving institutions.

“Working with CubeSats is a way to get students interested in launching a career in the space industry,” said Jeanie Hall, CSLI program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA reviews applications for CubeSat missions every year and selects projects with an educational component that also can benefit the agency in better understanding education, science, exploration, and technology.”

Applicants must submit proposals by 5 p.m. EST, Nov. 15. NASA expects to make selections by March 14, 2025, for flight opportunities in 2026-2029, although selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity. Applicants are responsible for funding the development of the small satellites.

Selected CubeSats get assigned a launch and deployment directly from a rocket or to low Earth orbit from the International Space Station. Once accepted, NASA mission managers act as advisors to the CubeSat team, ensuring technical, safety, and regulatory requirements are satisfied before launch. Those selected will strengthen their skills in hardware design and development and build knowledge in operating the CubeSats.

Eight CubeSat missions recently shared a ride to space on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket that launched on July 3 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. One mission is CatSat, built by students at the University of Arizona, which is testing a deployable antenna attached to a Mylar balloon. Another is KUbeSat-1, built by the University of Kansas, is testing a new method of measuring the cosmic rays that hit the Earth. This launch also was notable for two CSLI ‘first’ milestones. The KUbeSat-1 and another called MESAT-1 were the first CSLI missions from the states of Kansas and Maine respectively.

Four CubeSats also went to the space station as cargo in a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 21 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of the agency’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply mission. Once aboard the space station, astronauts deployed the small missions into various orbits to demonstrate and mature technologies meant to improve solar power generation, detect gamma ray bursts, determine crop water usage, and measure root-zone soil and snowpack moisture levels.

CubeSats are a class of spacecraft sized in multiples of a standardized unit called a “U.” A 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat is about 10 x 10 x 11 cm in size (3.9 x 3.9 x 4.5 inches). They are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and can be stacked together to form a slightly larger, more capable spacecraft. A 3U CubeSat is three times the size of a 1U, a 6U is six times the size.

NASA has selected CubeSat missions from 45 states, Washington, and Puerto Rico, and launched about 160 CubeSats since inception.

The CubeSat Launch Initiative is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To learn more information about CSLI, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/CubeSat_initiative

[ANS thanks JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and NASA for the above information.]


Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?


Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear


Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for August 9, 2024

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

The following satellites have been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

YUSAT 1 NORAD Cat ID 47439 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-1 NORAD Cat ID 51013 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-3 NORAD Cat ID 50988 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-8 NORAD Cat ID 50989 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-7 NORAD Cat ID 51062 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-4 NORAD Cat ID 51063 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024
TEVEL-2 NORAD Cat ID 51069 Decayed from orbit on or about 3 August 2024

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information.]


ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

ARISS News

Upcoming Contacts

A.G. Nikolaev Secondary School, Shorshel, Chuvashia, Russia direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Nikolay Chub.
The ARISS mentor is A.R.C. ENERGIA,RV3DR.
Contact is go for Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 08:20 UTC.

Blackwater State High School, Blackwater, QLD, Australia, telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Matthew Dominick, KCØTOR.
The ARISS mentor is Shane Lynd, VK4KHZ.
Contact is go for: Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 09:43:18 UTC.

Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA, direct via W7AW.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU.
The ARISS mentor is Ryan Krenzischek, W4NTR.
Contact is go: Friday, August 16, 2024 at 18:14:35 UTC.

Tuskegee Airmen Inc. National Convention, Arlington Virginia, telebridge via K6DUE.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU.
The ARISS mentor is Frank Bauer, KA3HDO.
Contact is go for: Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 17:34:57 UTC.

Completed Contacts

International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024, Cape Town, South Africa, telebridge via VK6MJ.
The ISS callsign was NA1SS.
The crewmember was Sunita Williams, KD5PLB.
The ARISS mentor was Frank Bauer, KA3HDO.
Contact was successful on Friday, August 9 2024.

Children’s camp “Shtormovoy” of the All-Russian Children’s Center “Orlyonok”, Orlyonok, Russia, direct via RO6C.
The ISS callsign was RS0ISS.
The crewmember was Nikolay Chub.
The ARISS mentor was A.R.C. ENERGIA, RV3DR.
Contact was successful: Saturday, August 3, 2024.

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information.]


Upcoming Satellite Operations

Philippe, EA4NF will be QRV (as KE4NF) from EL94 13-17 Aug, then EL95 25-27 Aug. Looks like this will be FM LEO only. Log as KE4NF

Jonathan @N4AKV has posted an ambitious August roving schedule on his qrz.com page. Tentative plans for a major satellite and 6m road trip through Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon this summer. Satellite passes listed on https://hams.at for the next week include grid squares FN43, FN53, and GN16.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager, and Alex Ners, K6VHF, for the above information.]


Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

August 17-18, 2024
Huntsville Hamfest
Huntsville, AL
AMSAT Booth and Forum
N8DEU and W4FCL

August 22-25, 2024
Northeast HamXpostion
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
181 Boston Post Road W
Marlborough, MA 01752
W1EME and WD4ASW

September 7, 2024
Greater Louisville Hamfest
Shepherdsville, KY
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
W4FCL

October 5, 2024
North Star Radio Convention
Hennepin Technical College (North Campus)
Brooklyn Park, Minn.
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
KØJM and ADØHJ

October 18-20, 2024
Pacificon 2024, ARRL Pacific Division Conference
San Ramon, CA
WU0I

October 25-27, 2004
AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
Double Tree Rocky Point Waterfront Hotel
Tampa Bay, FL

November 2-3, 2024
Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL State Convention
Stone Mountain, GA
K4RGK

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, K4FCL, Director, AMSAT Ambassador Program for the above information.]


Satellite Shorts From All Over

Zeke Wheeler, KJ7NLL’s Desktop Satellite Tracker won First Place in Engineering and Best of Fair at the 2024 Oregon State Science Fair (Northwest Science Expo), Middle School level. Zeke presented “An Affordable Portable Orbital Desktop Satellite Tracker” at the 2024 Crowd Supply Teardown Conference. Watch Zeke’s presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzeoxti90Wo. [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

A Chinese Long March 6A rocket broke apart in low-Earth orbit and formed a debris field with hundreds of pieces, confirmed by U.S. Space Command. “USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and continues to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain,” a U.S. Space Command spokesperson said. NASA public affairs officer Rob Margetta said there was no immediate threat to the International Space Station. Satellite monitoring company LeoLabs estimated there were at least 700 fragments created by the rocket’s break-up. While there’s no immediate danger, it’s possible that the fragments could eventually descend to where the space station and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are located. Slingshot Aerospace said debris from the rocket poses “a significant hazard to LEO [low-Earth orbit] constellations below 800 km altitude.” More information at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-224-Debris. [ANS thanks spacedaily.com for the above information.]

AMSAT-UK is pleased to announce that the 2024 Colloquium will take place alongside the RSGB Convention at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ on the weekend of October 13-14 2024. As in previous years, the AMSAT-UK Colloquium will run as a separate stream within the RSGB Convention and will include presentations on a variety of satellite and space related topics. The Annual General Meeting of AMSAT-UK will take place during the colloquium. More information at https://amsat-uk.org/2024/07/25/amsat-uk-space-colloquium-2024/. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.]


Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

  • Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
  • Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
  • Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
  • Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat [dot] org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

ANS-217 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

In this edition:

* ROBUSTA-3A in Orbit
* SONATE-2 APRS Digipeater in Operation
* Wireless Technology Workshop in India
* Small Satellites of the Future Grow Larger
* ASRTU-1 Scheduled for November Launch
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-217 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Aug 4

ROBUSTA-3A in Orbit

When the long-delayed inaugural launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) new Ariane 6 rocket finally occurred on July 7, it suffered an upper stage failure that left some payloads in the wrong orbits. Fortunately, before the anomaly developed, the Ariane 6 successfully deployed ROBUSTA-3A, a satellite with an amateur radio payload. The target was a 580 km circular orbit with an inclination of 96 degrees.

ROBUSTA-3A (a.k.a. “Méditerranée”) is a 3U cubesat, designed and built by students and faculty of Université de Montpellier in southern France. Over a decade in development, involving around 300 students from the University of Montpellier and all over the world, ROBUSTA-3A will be its seventh satellite developed entirely in-house, having learned much from the development and launch of smaller ROBUSTA-1U satellites. The project has offered hands-on training, engineering and scientific experience to the next generation of space engineers and researchers.


The Robusta 3A satellite is 3U, three CubeSat units. (Photo: Van Allen Foundation)

The satellite’s primary mission is weather observation, specifically to track “Cevenol events.” These are intense storms and incredibly heavy rains that cause extensive flooding, often in the form of flash floods, that hit the plains and the foothills of southern France. Once considered “100-year storms,” they have been occurring with greater frequency due to global climate change. Most of the weather data is downlinked on a commercial S-band microwave frequency.

“If the data we will be collecting improves the geographic and temporal accuracy of weather forecasts for cévenol events, it would help authorities give early warning to the population and allow rescue services to better target the areas at risk,” explains Romain Briand, assembly integration and testing manager at the University Space Center of Montpellier.

Robusta-3A under development by Centre Spatial Universitaire de Montpellier (CSUM)

However, ROBUSTA-3A aims to do even more than chart water vapour from space.

The satellite carries an experimental Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that will seek to optimize solar panel exposure and correctly aim sensors and microwave downlink antennas. Using a set of Sun sensors, magnetometers, and reaction wheels in a pyramidal configuration, the system should provide precise attitude control, especially during orbital maneuvers.

The satellite will also employ a cold gas thruster propulsion system which operates with solid iodine as propellant. This system will demonstrate orbit maintenance, phasing, and lifetime extension of small satellite missions, and could also help with end-of-life decommissioning and debris mitigation.

As an extra mission, the CubeSat will test how computer memory from chip manufacturer 3D PLUS withstands the radiation of space. This French company specialises in highly-reliable electronic components and their computer memory recently landed on the Moon as part of the India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander.

Finally, ROBUSTA-3A also carries a 9k6 GMSK AX.25 store-and-forward digital system with a UHF transmitter output of up to three watts — a very powerful downlink! As the satellite is sill in commissioning, operating protocols and uplink frequency have not yet been released. However, amateurs should expect something similar to the FalconSAT-3 store-and-forward system that was popular until that satellite deorbited in January of 2023. ROBUSTA-3A is currently transmitting short telemetry bursts on its International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) coordinated downlink frequency of 436.750 MHz.

[ANS thanks ESA, IARU, and the Space Center of the University of Montpellier for the above information.]


The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club coins are here now!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/


SONATE-2 APRS Digipeater in Operation

Professor Hakan Kayal from Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany posted on X this past week, “Thanks to everyone using SONATE-2’s APRS digipeater over the weekend. A total of 421 messages were digipeated.”

The Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg’s SONATE (SOlutus NAno satelliTE) satellite is a technology demonstration mission for highly autonomous payloads and artificial intelligence in the 6U CubeSat class. As part of the SONATE-2 mission, novel hardware and software technologies of artificial intelligence (AI) are to be verified in miniaturized format in earth orbit. By using such AI technologies, the satellite can independently analyze the environment and start autonomous recordings. Deep learning plays a special role as a versatile image processing tool. In addition to the classification of targets already known at the start of the mission, the payload should also have the option of on-board training for the detection of anomalies as previously unknown objects or phenomena.


SONATE-2 mission patch (JMU artwork)

The operation of an amateur radio payload is important to the educational mission of SONATE-2. The development and operation of the satellite is used for the education of students of the university. In cooperation with the DLR School Lab in Neustrelitz, Germany, it is planned to use the amateur radio payload for the education of high school students.

The amateur payload of SONATE-2 consists of a VHF transceiver that was already built for the predecessor mission SONATE over the course of several student projects. For SONATE-2 additional student projects extended the transceiver functionalities. It will provide regular SSTV downlinks with images from the optical sensors included in the AI payload as well as an APRS digipeater and CW beacon.

On the education side, the mission will serve as a foundation for different aspects of the university aerospace and computer science engineering program. In the context of practical courses, as thesis authors or as student assistants, students can participate in the development of all subsystems of the space and ground segment, including the amateur radio payload and the technology demonstration payload. In the context of mandatory lectures and exercises on space operations every student will also be included in the operations of the satellite.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) offers a School Lab for high school students at the location of the external ground station in Neustrelitz, Germany. Besides experiments on space and satellites, the School Lab includes amateur radio contacts to the ISS under the supervision of licensed local radio amateurs, which they wish to extend to other satellites like in this cooperation with the SONATE-2 mission.

Besides the amateur and educational mission parts, the SONATE-2 mission also has a research objective for the demonstration of novel artificial intelligence technology in the space environments. While the AI payload is mainly operated using a separate up/downlink in the space operation service in S-band, the satellite bus and the amateur payloads are operated in the amateur service. Housekeeping telemetry in the amateur service also contains status information of the non-amateur payload.


SONATE-2 Test Model, October 2023 (Photo: JMU)

According to Kayal, not many similar projects are currently being undertaken.

“Let’s assume that a small satellite is to investigate a new asteroid in the solar system in the future. It cannot be trained for this task on the ground, because the object of investigation is largely unknown. There is no training data, so the measurements and recordings can’t be made on the ground,” Kayal added.

Transmitting this data to Earth for initial processing and subsequently training the AI via remote control would result in significant time delays for missions located at a considerable distance from Earth.

Opting for a heightened level of autonomy with direct on-board AI support would greatly enhance the mission’s efficiency. This approach would expedite the detection of intriguing objects and phenomena on the asteroid, considerably reducing the time required for their identification.

To facilitate this, four on-board cameras capture the essential imagery required for training the AI. Initially, the AI acquires knowledge of conventional geometric patterns on Earth’s surface, among other things, which subsequently empowers it to autonomously identify anomalies.


A model of the SONATE-2 nanosatellite, here artistically depicted in orbit. (Image: Hakan Kayal / Universität Würzburg)

In addition to these AI experiments, SONATE-2 carries a suite of other small satellite technologies that are ready for in-orbit testing. These technologies include an automated lightning detection and recording system, as well as an electric propulsion system developed in collaboration with the University of Stuttgart.

Kayal added, “In terms of complexity, SONATE-2 is unparalleled among nanosatellites.”

SONATE-2 was one of a cluster of satellites launched on a SpaceX Falcon-9 flight on March 5, 2024. Digipeater and SSTV activations are announced at https://x.com/JMUSpace/.

SSTV downlink: Regular downlink of images captured by the on-board cameras
Frequency: 145.880 MHz
Modulation: Martin M1 SSTV FM (F3F)
TX Power: 500mW

APRS digipeater: (Updated 26.07.2024)
APRS digipeater in half-duplex operation. Digipeater is only active when published at https://x.com/JMUSpace/. When activated, it will transmit a greeting message every 2 minutes.
Make sure to include SONATE-2 callsign DPØSNX in the APRS route.
Frequency: 145.825 MHz Up/Down
Modulation: 1k2 AFSK (F2D)
Protocol: AX.25
TX Power: 500mW

[ANS thanks JMU Würzburg, Gunter’s Space Page, and AZO Robotics Network for the above information.]


Wireless Technology Workshop in India

A special workshop on ‘Wireless Technology and its Practical Solutions’ was conducted for Rajkot – Police Wireless Department at Gujarat (India) on 20th July 2024. The venue was the Police Training Center at Rajkot Headquarter. It was a highly informative 3 hours session from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Regional Coordinator of AMSAT-INDIA & The Amateur Radio Society of India, Mr. Rajesh Vagadia, VU2EXP, gave insight into various Radio Communication protocols, types of modulation, modes & various applications used in Amateur Radio & Police department.


Rajesh Vagadia, VU2EXP (hamphotos.com)

As this workshop was targeted for 25 technical wireless officers & radio operators, we focused on the radio communication enhancing methods, utilizing various techniques, using different antennas for specific applications and diagnosis of wireless setup with various measuring instruments incl. SWR/Power Meter, NanoVNA/Antenna Analyzer. We extended a handful of maintenance tips for Radio, Antenna, Feed line & repeaters to optimize radio communications.

We also gave an overview of Ham Radio & its various events, Understanding of Digital Communication, Satellite Communication, Features of newer Digital protocol incl. DMR, D-STAR & Fusion. There was good interaction with participants, lots of doubt & queries were cleared satisfactorily. Good number of radio stuff was displayed incl. HTs, VHF Base Radio, IC-705 SDR HF Radio, RTL SDR Dongle, Antenna Tuner, CAT Control, Soundcard Interface, Morse Key, CW Paddle & Keyer, CubeSat model, Balun, LNA, SWR/Power meter, NanoVNA, Dummy load, PSU, Feed lines, EFHW Antenna, Telescopic Antenna, Connectors, Adaptors, ARISS Awards, QSL Cards etc., which helped participants to view, discuss & understand our entire stuff better.

We always give practical demos, but, here in the audience was a heavy user of CW & RT from the police dept. We didn’t give a demo of that kind hi..hi.., but surely gave demos of Digital Communication – sending text messages between two VHF Setup and a second demo of sending SSTV Images between two local vhf stations! For the audience it was interesting to learn how we ham convert simple ASCII codes to corresponding audio frequencies (for Digital Communication) and RGB pixel values of Image to Slow Scan Television format to transmit & receive ‘IMAGES’ via our standard radios! That’s why we proudly call Ham Radio the oldest Social Media!

It was a nice & fruitful workshop overall. I am thankful to Commissioner of Police Rajkot Shri Brajesh Kumar Jha Sir for approval of this workshop and Shri S K Jadeja Sir (PI Wireless) for nicely coordinating this workshop. I am thankful to our AMSAT-INDIA & ARSI (The Amateur Radio Society of India) for their great support and guidance to make this workshop highly successful.

We wish Rajkot Gujarat Police will utilize the gained knowledge & implement into the system for better productivity!

[ANS thanks Rajesh Vagadia, VU2EXP, for the above information.]


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Small Satellites of the Future Grow Larger

Small satellite companies that have grown out of the New Space boom are retiring the cubesat platforms that made them to focus on larger, more powerful next-get small sats that promise to unlock new possibilities with advanced AI and real-time laser-based inter-satellite communications.

Over the past 15 years, small satellites have revolutionized how things are done in space. Built quickly from cheap, off-the-shelf components, and small enough to hitch an affordable ride to orbit on the back of bigger missions, these devices and the young, agile New Space companies behind them taught the old-school space industry a few lessons.

But New Space is coming of age and the firms behind the small satellite revolution must live up to expectations less favorable to their trade-mark experimental ethos. The lowest cost and shortest time to orbit may no longer be the technology’s biggest draw as users want maximum return on investment and require granted reliability. The firms behind the disruptive tech, however, have grown up together with their market share and are tapping into emerging innovation, looking to unleash a whole load of new applications in the coming years.
The Evolution of the Smallsat


Members of the ABMA satellite team (with Gen. Medaris and Dr. von Braun seated in center) with a model of the Explorer 1 satellite. (Photo, U.S. Army)

Satellites started small. The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 — launched in 1958 — weighed only 14 kilograms. But the technology, prized for opening a whole new perspective on our planet, quickly bulked up, enabled by the increasing lifting powers of fast-evolving rockets. Soon, complex satellites the size of a school bus took over, observing the planet from above, broadcasting TV signals across continents and sensing the environment around them.

It was only in the mid-1980s that researchers renewed their interest in smaller satellites with masses of tens to a couple of hundred kilograms. The true small sat revolution, however, began in 1999, with the invention of a cubesat. Based on standardized satellite units of 10 by 10 by 10 centimeters in size, cubesats opened space to anyone with enough technical skill to assemble and operate them. Soon, university teams from all over the world began launching their own experimental spacecraft to provide their students with hands-on space tech experience.

By 2014, San Francisco-based Planet Labs launched its first commercial constellation of 28 three-unit (3U) Earth-observing cubesats called Doves. More than 120 Doves are in orbit today, capturing an image of each place on Earth more than once a day. Other companies followed suit. As of today, cubesats have made it to orbit around Mars and the Moon and observed the impact of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) into the asteroid Didymos in 2022 in real-time.


The Axelspace Pyxis mission launched in March of this year. (Photo: Axelspace)

Larger small satellite platforms — up to 500 kg in mass — have also grown in popularity. In fact, these larger small satellites today dominate space around Earth thanks to SpaceX’s constellation of Starlink internet-beaming satellites.

Consulting firm Novaspace predicts that 26,104 small satellites — including minisatellites of 100 to 500 kg in mass, microsatellites between 10 and 100 kg and nanosatellites as light as 1 to 10 kg — will launch in the next decade.

And although the smallsat revolution is already behind us, new technologies are emerging that promise to supercharge the sector in the coming years. Via Satellite spoke with a number of experts in the field about what the smallsat of the future will look like.

Read the full article at: https://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/august-2024/what-does-the-smallsat-of-the-future-look-like/

[ANS thanks Via Satellite for the above information.]


ASRTU-1 Scheduled for November Launch

Published flight manifests indicate that the Chinese amateur radio satellite ASRTU-1 has been scheduled for launch in November of this year aboard a Russian rocket. As always, launches are subject to a wide variety of variables, and space agencies are not always 100% forthcoming about their activities. So while you may not want to mark the calendar just yet, hopeful signs are pointing toward a launch in the coming months.


Artist’s sketch of ASRTU-1

ASRTU-1 is a 12U Cubesat mission designed by Russian and Chinese university students for education and amateur radio. Harbin Institute of Technology has successfully developed several amateur radio satellites, including LilacSat-2 (CAS-3H), LilacSat-1 (LO-90), DSLWP-A (LO-93) and DSLWP-B (LO-94). The partner institution is Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which constructed two satellites, Baumanets-1 in 2006 and Baumanets-2 in 2017, both of which unfortunately failed to reach orbit due to launch failures unrelated to the satellite payloads.

The amateur radio station onboard ASRTU-1 will provide FM and telecommand uplinks, as well as FM, telemetry, and digital image downlinks. A new SDR based transceiver was developed to provide communication and experimental resources to radio amateurs, including a V/U FM transponder, a UHF telemetry downlink, and a 10.5G image downlink.

The repeater uplink will be on 145.875 MHz FM using a 67 Hz CTCSS (PL) tone. Downlink will be on 435.400 MHz FM. The telemetry beacon will be on 436.210 MHz using 9k6 bps BPSK.

In addition to the FM repeater, the satellite will also provide an open telecommand system to allow radio amateurs to send commands to control the satellite to take and download images. X Band image downloads using 1 Mbps/10mbps QSPK will downlink on 10.460 GHz.

ASRTU-1 has been scheduled for a Roscosmos launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Asiatic Russia, in Q4 2024 into a 530 km Sun-synchronous Orbit (SSO). Downlinks and the repeater uplink have been coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

[ANS thanks IARU and x.com/AKAhamradio/ for the above information.]


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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for August 2

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

{This spot for changes to TLEs when applicable. Can be eliminated or replaced if none.}
{Do note that our Manual of Style specifies that we ALWAYS use first & last names, callsign separated by commas, and then the title of the AMSAT officer, if any. See example below. Same style applies to persons referenced in story bodies, as well as in attributions.}

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]


ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

COMPLETED:
Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY, direct via K2ZRO
The ISS callsign was NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember was Matthew Dominick KCØTOR. The ARISS mentor was AB1OC
Contact was successful: Wed 2024-07-31 18:17:25 UTC 43 degrees maximum elevation.
Congratulations to the Kopernik Observatory students, Matthew, mentor AB1OC, and ground station K2ZRO!
Watch for Livestream at https://youtube.com/live/Tv3x3D0DTzU?feature=share

SMPIT Nurul Ishlah, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, telebridge via VK4ISS
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember was Sunita Williams KD5PLB. The ARISS mentor was VE3TBD
Contact was go for: Fri 2024-08-02 12:43:07 UTC 27 deg

Aznakaevsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember was Nikolay Chub. The ARISS mentor was RV3DR
Contact was go for Sat 2024-08-03 14:40 UTC

UPCOMING:
International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024, Cape Town, South Africa, telebridge via VK6MJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU, Matthew Dominick, KCØTOR, or Mike Barratt, KD5MIJ. The ARISS mentor is KA3HDO
Contact is go for: Fri 2024-08-09 11:55:06 UTC 40 deg
Watch for Livestream at https://astronomy2024.org/

A.G. Nikolaev Secondary School, Shorshel, Chuvashia, Russia direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Nikolay Chub. The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for Sun 2024-08-11 08:20 UTC

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]


Upcoming Satellite Operations

+ N8MR will be in EN57, with roves to EN67 from Friday, August 2 thru Saturday, August 10. Using an Icom 9700, Arrow and Alaskan antennas. Listening for Europe on linear eastern passes, with at least two of these passes being on CW. Can operate CW for NA ops, if anyone wants it. I can rove to EN56, only if needed. Posting passes to http://hams.at a day in advance. All QSOs to LoTW as N8MR.

+ Posted July 23rd by @SeanKutzko KX9X, on X (formerly Twitter): A reminder that I’m leaving for Hawaii this Friday! Will be on SSB / FM sats *holiday style* plus maybe some QRP FT8. No GreenCube, sorry. Will post passes here and to https://hams.at soon. #HamRadio @AMSAT #AMSAT

+ Posted July 21st by @W8LR_Jerry, on X (formerly Twitter): EM57/58 and EM67/68 are still planned for Aug 2/3. Please check http://hams.at and @W8LR_Jerry for updates. As I mentioned two months ago EM85 in TN will now be in my travel schedule beginning in Sept. I was just notified today. I will be doing FM/Linear/GC when there. More later.

+ Posted July 25th by @AD0HJ, on X (formerly Twitter): Work trip coming up the first full week of August in Fort Collins, Colorado. Will make stops on the EN02/EN03 | DN82/DN92 grid lines on the drive out. DN90/DN91 | EN20/EN30 grid lines on the way back. RS-44 satellite passes in the evenings. Posted at http://hams.at.

+ Jonathan @N4AKV_ has posted an ambitious August roving schedule on his qrz.com page. Tentative plans for a major satellite and 6m road trip through Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon this summer. Satellite passes listed on https://hams.at for the next week include grid squares FN43, FN53, and GN16.

+ FP/N4AKV will be on IO-117 on August 8. See https://hams.at for details.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]


AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

August 17-18, 2024
Huntsville Hamfest
Huntsville, AL
AMSAT Booth and Forum
N8DEU and W4FCL

September 7, 2024
Greater Louisville Hamfest
Shepherdsville, KY
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
W4FCL

October 5, 2024
Central Kentucky Hamfest
Lexington, KY
AMSAT and Educational Satellites Forum and Information Table
AI4SR and W4FCL

October 5, 2024
North Star Radio Convention
Hennepin Technical College (North Campus)
Brooklyn Park, Minn.
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
KØJM and ADØHJ

October 25-27, 2004
AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
Double Tree Rocky Point Waterfront Hotel
Tampa Bay, FL

November 2-3, 2024
Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL State Convention
Stone Mountain, GA
K4RGK

Interested in becoming an AMSAT Ambassador? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Events page for the above information]


Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The MESAT-1 team are continuing to test and commission the satellite. It is currently in Health Mode transmitting continuously and the downlink power is now about 6dB higher. So it should be easier to hear and decode. If you have had trouble decoding it then now is a good time to try again. Software may be downloaded from https://www.amsat.org/foxtelem-software-for-windows-mac-linux/ (ANS thanks Chris E. Thompson, VE2TCP / G0KLA / AC2CZ, for the above information.)

+ SpaceX is now targeting mid- to late August for the launch of Polaris Dawn, a mission funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. The upcoming flight, which will employ SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, had been slated to lift off no earlier than July 31. SpaceX announced the delay today (July 26), during a press conference focusing on the company’s upcoming Crew-9 astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. The NASA mission will include Zena Cardman, KJ5CMN, Nick Hague, KG5TMV, Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, Roscosmos. Crew-9 will launch no earlier than Aug. 18, and Polaris Dawn will fly sometime after that, the company said. The Polaris Dawn mission is scheduled to include the first-ever private spacewalk. (ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.)

+ The U.S. military is installing modular state-of-the-art satellite jammers capable of disrupting Russian or Chinese communications, should the need arise. Even though the hardware is ground-based, the U.S. Space Force will oversee installation and operation. The technology is already past prototyping. The military tested the system at two different locations earlier this year. The Department of Defense allocated funds to build 24 remote installations, with 11 scheduled to deploy before the end of the year. (ANS thanks SatNews.com for the above information.)

+ SpaceX Falcon 9 returned to flight with three Starlink launches in 30 hours after only 15 days of being grounded due to its recent upper-stage anomaly (a brittle, and presumably cracked, pressure monitoring line) and conducted its 300th reflight of a booster. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ Boeing performed a hot fire test of the 27 maneuvering thrusters aboard the docked Starliner space capsule, which could be the last test before the spacecraft’s delayed return to Earth is approved. Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, and Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, took Starliner to the International Space Station on June 5 for what was to have been a 10-day test flight. NASA says they may now return in late August. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)


Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
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* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

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73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, KØJM
mjohns [at] amsat.org

ANS-210 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

In this edition:

* TEVEL Satellites Begin Atmospheric Reentry and Decommissioning
* Ariane 6 Launches PariSat: Young Engineers Test Heat Dissipation
* SpaceX to Develop Enhanced Dragon Spacecraft for ISS Deorbit
* GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers August 2024 Rankings
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 26, 2024
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on https://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-210 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Jul 28


TEVEL Satellites Begin Atmospheric Reentry and Decommissioning

The TEVEL satellite project, featuring a series of CubeSats designed and built by Israeli students, has entered its final phase with the beginning of atmospheric reentry and decommissioning. This initiative, a collaboration between the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and Tel Aviv University, has been a key educational tool, providing practical experience in satellite technology to students across Israel.

Launched in January 2022 on the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-3 mission, the TEVEL satellites were part of a broader effort to promote STEM education. The CubeSats, built to the 10x10x10 cm standard, were used for various missions including scientific data collection, amateur radio communication, and technology experimentation. The project aimed to enhance students’ understanding of satellite technology and prepare them for careers in the space industry.

Students assembling a satellite as part of the TEVEL program. [Credit: Israel Space Agency]
In addition to their educational value, the TEVEL satellites played a significant role in the amateur radio community. Equipped with radio transponders, they allowed amateur radio operators worldwide to communicate via satellite, fostering international collaboration and technological experimentation. This feature provided a unique platform for enthusiasts to engage in satellite communication.

As the satellites now re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, this phase marks the end of their operational lives. The reentry process, which involves the satellites burning up upon reentry to prevent space debris, is being monitored by both educational teams and the broader space community. This final stage offers a valuable learning opportunity for students tracking the satellites’ descent and analyzing the data.

All eight TEVEL CubeSats are expected to decay from orbit in the next few weeks. [Credit: Nanosats.eu]
Looking ahead, David Greenberg, 4X1DG, has announced a new TEVEL mission featuring nine additional satellites, continuing the educational and amateur radio goals of the original initiative. The decommissioning of the TEVEL satellites highlights the importance of responsible satellite disposal to minimize space debris and ensure the sustainability of space operations.

The success of the TEVEL project sets a precedent for future educational satellite initiatives, demonstrating how hands-on learning can be integrated with practical space missions. As the satellites complete their final descent, they leave behind a legacy of inspiration and international collaboration in both educational and amateur radio fields.

[ANS thanks Lorenzo Gianlorenzi, IU1BOT, Vashradio.org, for the above information]


Ariane 6 Launches PariSat: Young Engineers Test Heat Dissipation

On July 9, 2024, Europe’s newest rocket, the Ariane 6, launched with a range of missions on board, each with unique objectives and dedicated teams. Among these missions was PariSat, a project that highlights the ingenuity and dedication of the Garef Aérospatial club. This amateur space club, comprised of young engineers aged 15 to 25, has been working diligently on satellite testing, with the goal of exploring how different materials handle heat dissipation in space.

The core of the PariSat experiment is to determine which materials are most effective at dissipating heat in the harsh environment of space. The project, however, is not just about the scientific results but also about the educational journey for the young engineers involved. Based in a modest building near the Georges Carpentier stadium in Paris’s 13th district, the club members work after school, applying their passion for space to design and build their satellite experiment.

Earth image captured by an adapted GoPro camera used on PariSat. [Credit: Garef Aérospatial]
PariSat features eight small square plates, each just 4 cm wide, which function as space radiators. These plates were chosen to test various properties such as material composition and color, and their responses to heating and cooling. Equipped with temperature sensors, each plate provided data on “black-body radiation” during the nearly three-hour flight of Ariane 6’s upper stage. This data will help validate the Stefan-Boltzmann law of thermal radiation, a principle discovered in 1884.

In addition to the scientific experiment, PariSat includes a photo component. The team has adapted a GoPro camera for space use, which is controlled by a module entirely designed by Garef Aérospatial. This camera, featuring a fisheye lens, captured stunning images of Earth, showcasing the planet’s curvature and adding a visual dimension to the mission.

Five experiments gathered data while attached to the Ariane 6’s upper stage during its inaugural flight. [Credit: ESA]
PariSat is part of a larger set of five experiments, including Peregrinus, Sidloc, LiFi, and YPSat, which also remained attached to the Ariane 6’s upper stage during its three-hour flight. These experiments gathered data as the upper stage’s orbit was adjusted by the Vinci engine, which can be restarted multiple times. The collected data was transmitted back to Earth and received by the Swedish Space Corporation’s telemetry station in Kiruna, Sweden.

As the Garef Aérospatial team begins analyzing the data, the PariSat mission serves as a testament to the capabilities of young engineers and highlights the potential for youth-led initiatives in space science. With this mission, the team looks forward to future projects, driven by the experiences and successes gained from their participation in Ariane 6’s first flight.

[ANS thanks the European Space Agency and Garef Aérospatial for the above information]


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SpaceX to Develop Enhanced Dragon Spacecraft for ISS Deorbit

SpaceX will develop an enhanced version of its Dragon spacecraft for NASA to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its operational life. This development comes as part of a contract awarded to SpaceX on June 26, valued at up to $843 million. The new spacecraft, known as the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), was detailed by NASA and SpaceX officials at a briefing on July 17th.

The USDV will be based on SpaceX’s existing Dragon spacecraft but will feature a redesigned and larger trunk section with additional thrusters. Specifically, the USDV will have 46 Draco thrusters, including 16 for attitude control and 30 for the maneuvers required to lower the ISS’s orbit. Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s director of Dragon mission management, explained that the enhanced trunk section is twice as long as the regular one.

NASA presented the concept of the US Deorbiting Vehicle designed by SpaceX on July 17th. [Credit: SpaceX]
The new trunk will house engines, propellant tanks, power generation, and other systems, storing six times the propellant of the current Dragon spacecraft and generating three to four times the power. “It’s almost a spacecraft in and of itself,” Walker noted. Once completed, NASA will own and operate the USDV, which will be launched to the ISS shortly after the station’s final crew arrives.

After its arrival and successful checkout, ISS controllers will allow the station’s orbit to naturally decay. The final crew will depart when the station’s altitude decreases from its current 400 kilometers to 330 kilometers. The ISS’s orbit will continue to decay over approximately six months before NASA uses the USDV for a final controlled deorbit, targeting a remote ocean corridor about 2,000 kilometers long.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule Endeavour which flew the Crew-6 mission on March 2nd, 2023. [Credit: SpaceX]
Dana Weigel, NASA ISS program manager, mentioned that debris from the station, ranging in size from a microwave oven to a sedan, is expected to survive reentry and splash down in this corridor. The USDV will have an estimated mass of over 30,000 kilograms, including 16,000 kilograms of propellant. Due to its size, it will require a heavier class of rocket than the Falcon 9 currently used for Dragon missions. NASA plans to procure the launch vehicle separately at least three years before the launch.

SpaceX expressed readiness to support the launch if given the opportunity. Northrop Grumman was the only other company to bid on the USDV. NASA’s source selection statement indicated that Northrop’s bid was significantly higher in price and rated lower in both mission suitability and past performance compared to SpaceX. Ken Bowersox, NASA associate administrator for space operations, expressed satisfaction with the proposals received, noting he was pleased with the submissions from SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.

[ANS thanks Jeff Foust, Spacenews.com, for the above information]


GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers August 2024 Rankings

The August 2024 rankings for the Top 100 Rovers (Mixed LEO/MEO/GEO) in satellite operations, as determined by @GridMasterMap on Twitter, has been released. The ranking is determined by the number of grids and DXCC entities activated, taking into account only those grids where a minimum number of QSOs logged on the gridmaster.fr website have been validated by a third party. Grid numbers do not directly reflect the exact number of activations. Satellite operators are encouraged to upload their LoTW satellite contacts to https://gridmaster.fr in order to provide more accurate data.

Updated: 2024-07-26

1 ND9M 26 LU5ILA 51 N4AKV 76 AA8CH
2 NJ7H 27 N5BO 52 AC0RA 77 VE1VOX
3 JA9KRO 28 K8BL 53 EA4NF 78 FG8OJ
4 N5UC 29 DL2GRC 54 JL3RNZ 79 PT9BM
5 UT1FG 30 KE4AL 55 AA5PK 80 KI7UXT
6 OE3SEU 31 VE3HLS 56 SP5XSD 81 YU0W
7 DL6AP 32 KB5FHK 57 F4DXV 82 KJ7NDY
8 WI7P 33 KI7UNJ 58 AD7DB 83 KB2YSI
9 DP0POL 34 LA9XGA 59 KI7QEK 84 WA9JBQ
10 K5ZM 35 JO2ASQ 60 VE1CWJ 85 N6UTC
11 N6UA 36 F4BKV 61 KE9AJ 86 N4DCW
12 HA3FOK 37 PA3GAN 62 XE1ET 87 N0TEL
13 WY7AA 38 N7AGF 63 VA7LM 88 JM1CAX
14 N9IP 39 KI0KB 64 N8RO 89 VE3GOP
15 W5PFG 40 VK5DG 65 KM4LAO 90 K0FFY
16 AK8CW 41 XE3DX 66 SM3NRY 91 CU2ZG
17 AD0DX 42 K7TAB 67 N4UFO 92 KG4AKV
18 F5VMJ 43 KE0WPA 68 W1AW 93 VE7PTN
19 WD9EWK 44 KE0PBR 69 DL4EA 94 AF5CC
20 AD0HJ 45 VA3VGR 70 PT2AP 95 K6VHF
21 ND0C 46 PR8KW 71 W8LR 96 VE6WK
22 DJ8MS 47 W7WGC 72 M1DDD 97 W8MTB
23 ON4AUC 48 N6DNM 73 HB9GWJ 98 DK9JC
24 KX9X 49 EB1AO 74 DF2ET 99 PT9ST
25 KG5CCI 50 JK2XXK 75 LU4JVE 100 VO2AC

[ANS thanks @GridMasterMap for the above information]


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Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/


Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 26, 2024

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

The following satellite has been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:
TEVEL-6 NORAD Cat ID 50999 Decayed from orbit on or about 19 July 2024

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:
CatSat NORAD Cat ID 60246 Downlinks on 437.185 MHz and 10470.00 MHz have been coordinated

[ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements page for the above information]


ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Recently Completed Contacts

Nizhnekamsk schools, Nizhnekamsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via RC4P
The ISS callsign was RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember was Aleksandr Grebyonkin RZ3DSE
The ARISS mentor was RV3DR
Contact was successful: Sat 2024-07-27 13:50 UTC

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, AZ, telebridge via AB1OC
The ISS callsign was NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember was Matthew Dominick KCØTOR
The ARISS mentor was K4RGK
Contact was successful: Sat 2024-07-27 18:24:08 UTC

Upcoming Contacts

Narayama ARISS School Contact, Nara, Japan, direct via JK3ZNB
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Mike Barratt KD5MIJ
The ARISS mentor is 7M3TJZ
Contact is go for: Mon 2024-07-29 11:03:33 UTC

Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY, mentor direct via K2ZRO
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Jeanette Epps KF5QNU
The ARISS mentor is AB1OC
Contact is go for: Wed 2024-07-31 18:17:25 UTC
Watch for Livestream at https://youtube.com/live/Tv3x3D0DTzU?feature=share

SMPIT Nurul Ishlah, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, telebridge via VK4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Sunita Williams KD5PLB
The ARISS mentor is VE3TBD
Contact is go for: Fri 2024-08-02 12:43:07 UTC

A.G. Nikolaev Secondary School, Shorshel, Chuvashia, Russia direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Nikolay Chub (***)
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for Sun 2024-08-11 08:20 UTC

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]


Upcoming Satellite Operations

Posted July 21st by @W8LR_Jerry on X (formerly Twitter): EM57/58 and EM67/68 are still planned for Aug 2/3. Please check hams.at and @W8LR_Jerry for updates. As I mentioned two months ago EM85 in TN will now be in my travel schedule beginning in Sept. I was just notified today. I will be doing FM/Linear/GC when there. More later.

Posted July 23rd by @SeanKutzko KX9X on X (formerly Twitter): A reminder that I’m leaving for Hawaii this Friday! Will be on SSB / FM sats *holiday style* plus maybe some QRP FT8. No GreenCube, sorry. Will post passes here and to hams.at soon. #HamRadio @AMSAT #AMSAT

Posted July 25th by @AD0HJ on X (formerly Twitter): Work trip coming up the first full week of August in Fort Collins, Colorado. Will make stops on the EN02/EN03 | DN82/DN92 grid lines on the drive out. DN90/DN91 | EN20/EN30 grid lines on the way back. RS-44 satellite passes in the evenings. Posted at hams.at.

Posted July 26th by @AMSAT-UK on X (formerly Twitter): 7E4K IOTA Expedition to Ketawai Island (OC-144, locator OI37dr) will be on various satellites (LEO, MEO and GEO). Please visit the website for schedule: https://7e4k.com 73 de Yono – YD0NXX ORARI HQ, Satellite Division #amsat #hamradio #hamr

Jonathan @N4AKV_ has posted an ambitious August roving schedule on his qrz.com page. Tentative plans for a major satellite and 6m road trip through Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon this summer. Satellite passes listed on hams.at for the next week include grid squares FN43, FN53, and GN16.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]


AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

2024 KARS / ARRL Idaho State Convention – August 3, 2024
2130 North Meyer Road
Post Falls, ID 83854
https://k7id.org/article/StateConvention2024?classification=Info

Huntsville Hamfest – August 17th and 18th, 2024
Von Braun Center South Hall
700 Monroe Street SW
Huntsville, AL 35801
https://hamfest.org/

AMSAT Booth and Forum / N8DEU and W4FCL

Northeast HamXpostion – August 22nd thru 25th, 2024
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
181 Boston Post Road West
Marlborough, MA 01752
https://hamxposition.org/

Greater Louisville Hamfest – September 7th, 2024
Paroquet Springs Conference Centre
395 Paroquet Springs Drive
Shepherdsville, KY 40165
https://louisvillehamfest.wixsite.com/louisvillehamfest

AMSAT Forum and Information Table / W4FCL

North Star Radio Convention – October 5th, 2024
Hennepin Technical College (North Campus)
9000 Brooklyn Boulevard
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
https://conv2023.tcfmc.org/

AMSAT Forum and Information Table / KØJM and ADØHJ

Central Kentucky Hamfest – October 5th, 2024
Highlands Baptist Church
2032 Parallel Road
Lexington, KY 40502
https://www.facebook.com/w9khz/

AMSAT and Educational Satellites Forum and Information Table / AI4SR and W4FCL

2024 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting – October 25th thru 27th, 2024
Doubletree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront
3050 N Rocky Point Drive West
Tampa, FL 33607
https://www.amsat.org/

Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL State Convention – November 2nd and 3rd, 2024
Gwinnett County Fairgrounds
2405 Sugarloaf Parkway
Lawrenceville, GA 30042
https://stonemountainhamfest.com/

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]


Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get an AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space

Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear


Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ ASRTU-1 is a 12U CubeSat mission developed by students from the Harbin Institute of Technology and Bauman State Technical University. It is designed for educational purposes and features an amateur radio SDR payload. The satellite will offer telecommand uplink and telemetry/digital image downlink capabilities. Harbin Institute of Technology, known for developing successful amateur radio satellites like LilacSat-2 and DSLWP-B, has created a new SDR-based transceiver for ASRTU-1. This transceiver will provide communication resources, including a V/U FM transponder, UHF telemetry downlink, and a 10.5G image downlink. Scheduled to launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome on November 2024, ASRTU-1 will operate in a 530km sun-synchronous orbit with coordinated downlinks on 436.210 MHz, 435.400 MHz, and 10460.00 MHz and a repeater uplink on 145.875 MHz. (ANS thanks @AKAhamradio, X.com, for the above information)

+ SpaceX successfully test-fired the engines on its Super Heavy booster on July 15, 2024, in preparation for the fifth integrated flight test (IFT-5) of its Starship vehicle. This upcoming launch, expected in August, will be the most ambitious to date and aims to build on the success of previous flights. The Super Heavy booster, measuring 233 feet tall, fired its 33 Raptor engines at full thrust for about 20 seconds during the static test at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas. Starship, which has been selected by NASA for the Artemis 3 lunar mission, is designed as a fully reusable system capable of carrying humans to Mars. Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the Super Heavy booster is intended to return directly to its launch pad, where it will be caught midair by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms. With each test flight achieving progressively more, SpaceX aims to test the booster catch system in the upcoming launch, marking a significant advance towards rapid reusability and future missions. (ANS thanks Josh Dinner, Space.com, for the above information)

+ The 188,000-pound, 212-foot-tall core stage for the Artemis-2 moon mission has arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) following a 900-mile journey from Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. This milestone marks a significant step in preparing for the Artemis-2 mission, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in over fifty years. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are slated to launch on this mission as early as September 2025. Upon arrival at KSC, the core stage was transferred to a self-propelled transporter and moved into the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Engineers will soon begin processing the stage for stacking operations, involving the integration of the twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the spacecraft. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s twin boosters and the core stage’s four RS-25 engines will generate nearly 9 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, propelling Artemis-2 and its crew to the moon. (ANS thanks Mike Killian, AmericaSpace.com, for the above information)

+ NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) with no set return date due to ongoing technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The astronauts departed for the ISS in early June on a test mission expected to last about a week, but faulty thrusters and helium leaks have delayed their return. Despite some thrusters now functioning normally and the leaks being stable, NASA and Boeing are still not ready to schedule their departure. NASA assures that the astronauts are not stranded and the technical issues do not pose a threat to the mission. Engineers are conducting tests, including on a spare thruster in New Mexico, to understand and resolve the problems. Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, emphasized the priority of the astronauts’ safety and the consideration of backup return options. (ANS thanks Anna Betts, The Guardian, for the above information)

+ SpaceX is set to resume Falcon 9 launches as early as July 27 following the completion of an investigation into an upper stage anomaly from the July 11 launch. The mishap, which resulted in the rocket’s upper stage failing to perform a second burn and stranding Starlink satellites in a low orbit, was attributed to a liquid oxygen leak caused by a cracked sense line. This crack was due to engine vibration fatigue and a loose clamp. The resulting leak led to ice buildup and excessive cooling of engine components, causing a hard start and subsequent damage to the engine hardware. SpaceX has implemented immediate fixes and proposed long-term solutions, and the FAA has determined that there are no public safety issues, allowing launches to proceed. SpaceX is targeting July 27 for the next launch, with two more launches tentatively scheduled for July 28. (ANS thanks Jeff Foust, SpaceNews, for the above information)


Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
* Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half-time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mitch Ahrenstorff, ADØHJ
ad0hj [at] amsat.org

ANS-203 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service

ANS-203
July 18, 2024

In this edition:

  • AMSAT Board of Directors Election Underway
  • AMSAT Mail Alias Service to End August 31, 2024
  • Tevel Satellites Nearing Re-Entry
  • AMSAT-OSCAR 7 in Continuous Sunlight
  • Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for July 19, 2024
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • AMSAT Ambassador Activities
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on https://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/


Save the Date! Symposium 2024

Photo by Robert DuBois

Mark your calendar now for the 2024 AMSAT Symposium,

October 25-27, 2024 at the Doubletree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront in Tampa, Florida!

Watch for announcements concerning further details as plans are formulated.

AMSAT Board of Directors Election Underway

The nomination period for the 2024 AMSAT Board of Directors Election ended on June 15th. The following candidates have been duly nominated:

  • Mark Hammond, N8MH
  • Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
  • Bruce Paige, KK5DO
  • Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
  • Douglas Tabor, N6UA

As three seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year, the three candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected to the seats. The two candidates receiving the next largest number of votes shall be declared First Alternate and Second Alternate, respectively.

The voting process is now underway. AMSAT members can find candidate statements and electronic voting information on AMSAT’s Wild Apricot Membership Portal.

The voting period will conclude on September 15th and results will be announced no later than September 30th.

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary for the above information]


AMSAT Mail Alias Service to End August 31, 2024

A long-standing member service, the AMSAT Mail Alias Service is scheduled to end on August 31, 2024. A mail alias on AMSAT.ORG permitted people to send an email to members without knowing their actual internet email address. They just needed to know their amateur radio callsign.

Unfortunately, the unchecked rise in domain name hacking and email account high-jacking has made it impossible to sustain this service at a cost-effective level. The number of [email protected] email accounts that had been hijacked and converted to zombie spam accounts over the years had led many internet service providers and gateway centers to ban all @amsat.org email addresses, including those business accounts of AMSAT officers and officials. The tireless efforts of AMSAT’s all volunteer IT staff has worked for years to repair much of the damage, but AMSAT still get complaints from members who are not getting their personal emails, ANS bulletins or AMSAT-BB posts because of persistent delivery problems.

It has come to the point where the AMSAT volunteer IT staff can no longer keep up with the maintenance requirements to keep the alias mail list clean and to work with email gateways to remove blocks. And, after considerable investigation into alternative paid email services, AMSAT leadership decided that the money required to keep an email alias system alive would be better spent on building and flying satellites for its members.

Persons using the Mail Alias Service should begin to migrate to different email accounts so they do not lose receipt of personal emails, AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins, AMSAT-BB posts, or official messages from AMSAT itself. Members are especially asked to make sure they are NOT using a [email protected] as their registered email address in the AMSAT membership portal. Members can easily change their registered member email address by logging into the portal and updating their profile.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]


Tevel Satellites Nearing Re-Entry

The Tevel series of satellites is approaching re-entry, with Tevel-5 already re-entering on July 18th.

The Tevel mission consists of 8 satellites developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel, each carrying an FM transponder. The satellites were built by 8 schools in different parts of Israel and launched in January 2022 on the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-3 mission.

A number of other satellites with amateur radio payloads are also re-entering shortly. A list of satellites approaching re-entry can be found at http://lu7aa.org/decay.asp

[ANS thanks Herzliya Science Center, AMSAT Argentina, and LU7AA for the above information]


The 2024 Coins Are Here Now!
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today!


AMSAT-OSCAR 7 in Continuous Sunlight

AMSAT-OSCAR 7, soon to celebrate its 50th birthday on November 15, 2024, is now in a period of continuous sunlight through May 22, 2027.

While in continuous sunlight, the satellite’s internal timer is expected to switch between the two transponders – Mode A (29 MHz downlink and 145 MHz uplink) and Mode B (145 MHz downlink and 29 MHz uplink) every 24 hours.

Post reports and check current status on the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page. After a few days in continuous sunlight, it should be possible to determine the actual or approximate time the satellite switches.

[ANS thanks AMSAT and EA1PA for the above information]


Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for July 19, 2024

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if new high interest satellites are launched. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

The following satellites have been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

MESAT1 remains on this distribution. No signals have been detected from any other amateur spacecraft launched as part of NASA’s ELaNa 43 mission.

ELaNa 43 OBJECT A NORAD Cat ID  60203  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT B NORAD Cat ID  60204  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT C NORAD Cat ID  60205  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT D NORAD Cat ID  60206  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT E NORAD Cat ID  60207  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT F NORAD Cat ID  60208  No amateur signal detected
ELaNa 43 OBJECT H NORAD Cat ID  60210  No amateur signal detected
Zhou Enlai  NORAD Cat ID 43156 Decayed from orbit on or about 17 July 2024
TEVEL-5 NORAD Cat ID 50998 Decayed from orbit on or about 18 July 2024

The following satellites have been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

GRBBeta NORAD Cat ID 60236 IARU coordinated downlinks on 145.935 MHz, 436.785 MHz and 2405.000 MHz
ROBUSTA-3A NORAD Cat ID 60241 IARU coordinated 9k6 GMSK with AX.25 downlink on 436.750 MHz

Thanks to Nico PA0DLO for identifying the two new spacecraft.

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]


Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase an M2 LEO-Pack from the
AMSAT Store!

When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.


ARISS News

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Aznakaevsky district schools of the Republic of Tatarstan, Tatarstan Russia, direct via TBD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Aleksandr Grebyonkin RZ3DSE
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for Sat 2024-07-27 13:45 UTC

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, AZ, telebridge via AB1OC

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Matthew Dominick KCØTOR
The ARISS mentor is K4RGK
Contact is go: Sat 2024-07-27 18:24:08 UTC 41 deg

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down),  If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]


Upcoming Satellite Operations

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

N8MR will be in EN57, with roves to EN67 from Aug 2 thru Aug 10. Icom 9700, Arrow and Alaskan (IO-117) antennas. Listening for Europe on linear eastern passes, at least two of these on CW. Can operate CW for NA ops, if anyone wants it. I can rove to EN56, only if needed. Posting passes to hams.at a day in advance. All QSOs to LoTW as N8MR.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT Rover Page Manager,  for the above information]


 Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get an AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space


AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, says,

“Think a 75-minute presentation on “working the easy satellites” would be appropriate for your club or event? Let me know by emailing me at k6lcsclint (at) gmail (dot) com or calling me at 909-999-SATS (7287)!”

Clint has NEVER given the exact same show twice: EACH of the 150+ presentations so far has been customized/tailored to their audiences.

Scheduled Events

2024 KARS / ARRL Idaho State Convention
August 3, 2024

Post Falls, ID
K7SYS

Huntsville Hamfest
August 17-18, 2024

Huntsville, AL
AMSAT Booth and Forum
N8DEU and W4FCL

Northeast HamXpostion
August 22-25, 2024

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
181 Boston Post Road W
Marlborough, MA 01752

Greater Louisville Hamfest
September 7, 2024

Shepherdsville, KY
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
W4FCL

Central Kentucky Hamfest
October 5, 2024

Lexington, KY
AMSAT and Educational Satellites Forum and Information Table
AI4SR and W4FCL

North Star Radio Convention
October 5, 2024

Hennepin Technical College (North Campus)
Brooklyn Park, Minn.
AMSAT Forum and Information Table
KØJM and ADØHJ

2024 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 25-27, 2024

Doubletree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront
3050 N Rocky Point Dr W
Tampa, FL 33607

Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL State Convention
November 2-3, 2024

Stone Mountain, GA
K4RGK

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]


Satellite Shorts from All Over

+ XW-2B has recently returned to reliable service. XW-2B has an inverting linear transponder with an uplink of 435.090-435.110 MHz and a downlink of 145.730-145.750 MHz.

+ The May/June 2024 issue of The AMSAT Journal is now available to members on AMSAT’s Member Portal at https://launch.amsat.org/The_AMSAT_Journal

+ SpaceX’s Falcon 9 suffered a rare failure on July 11th when the upper stage “experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn,” trapping 20 Starlink satellites in an unusably low orbit. More information at https://spacenews.com/starlink-satellites-lost-on-falcon-9-upper-stage-failure/ (ANS thanks SpaceNews for the information)


Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

  • Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
  • Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
  • Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
  • Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm [at] amsat.org

ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002