AMSAT News Service
ANS-327
November 23, 2025
In this edition:
- September/October 2025 Edition of The AMSAT Journal Now Available
- New AMSAT CubeSatSim Lite Available on AMSAT Store Sunday
- Happy 12th Birthday to AO-73 (FUNcube-1)
- Successful Reception of CatSat 10 GHz Downlink
- SO-124 Nears End of Orbital Life
- Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for October 10, 2025
- ARISS News
- 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/
September/October 2025 Edition of The AMSAT Journal Now Available
The September/October 2025 issue of The AMSAT Journal is now available to members on AMSAT’s Member Portal.
Click here to download your copy now
The AMSAT Journal is a bi-monthly digital magazine for amateur radio in space enthusiasts, published by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). Each issue is your source for hardware and software projects, technical tips, STEM initiatives, operational activities, and news from around the world.
Inside the Current Issue:
- Apogee View – Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
- Educational Relations Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
- AMSAT Education and CubeSat Simulator Project Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
- The STAR Project and the CubeSatSim Lite – Mark Samis, KD2XS
- The Next Time We Might Receive a Message From the Stars – Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK
- Bridging Orbit and Classroom: SatNOGS and CubeSatSim Activities – Frederic Rabb, KK6NOW
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
AMSAT Remove Before Flight Key Tags Now Available
Yes, These are the Real Thing!
Your $20 Donation Goes to Help Fly a Fox-Plus Satellite
Includes First Class Postage (Sorry – U.S. Addresses Only)
Order Today at https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain
New AMSAT CubeSatSim Lite Available on AMSAT Store Sunday
The new AMSAT CubeSatSim Lite will be available on the AMSAT Store starting on Sunday November 23 at 7:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time. The product page can be found at https://www.amsat.org/
[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations, for the above information]
The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Are Here!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today!
Happy 12th Birthday to AO-73 (FUNcube-1)
AO-73 celebrated its 12th birthday on November 21, 2025. The satellite is still operating well in full-time transponder mode.
On November 21, 2013 FUNcube-1 (AO-73) was launched from the Yasny launch base located in the Orenburg Region, Russia on a Dnepr Launch Vehicle into a 600 km, 97.8º inclination sun-synchronous orbit. In this orbit the satellite passes over the British Isles and Europe approximately 3 times in the morning, and 3 in the evening, every day, perhaps allowing the morning passes to be used for educational purposes and the evening passes for Amateur Radio communications.
FUNcube carries a UHF to VHF linear transponder that has 300 mW PEP output and which can be used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW communications.
Communication subsystem:
• 145.935 MHz BPSK Telemetry 30/300 mW
• Inverting SSB/CW transponder 300 mW
– 435.150 – 435.130 MHz Uplink
– 145.950 – 145.970 MHz Downlink
The passband may be up to 15 kHz higher depending on on-board temperatures. Low temperatures give higher frequencies
As of writing, ground stations from around the world have collected 11,631,536 frames of telemetry throughout the satellite’s life. The satellite’s recently received telemetry values can be found on AMSAT-UK’s Data Warehouse at http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/fc1-fm.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
Successful Reception of CatSat 10 GHz Downlink
Mike Seguin, N1JEz, reports the successful reception of the University of Arizona’s CatSat’s 10 GHz downlink on 10.47 GHz on the morning of November 21, 2025. The satellite’s linear transponder uses 10 GHz down and 5 GHz up. More information is available at https://catsat.arizona.edu/
Mike reports that signals were quite good in FN34xn in Vermont! His next step is to try the uplink on 5 GHz on 5.663 GHz.
Below is a link to a portion of the pass. It is an I&Q file recorded with HDSDR using the Winrad format.
https://drive.google.com/file/
Congrats to the CatSat team!!
[ANS thanks Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, and the University of Arizona’s CatSat Team for the above information]
SO-124 Nears End of Orbital Life
Simulations indicate that the decay of our satellite HADES-R (SO–124) is approaching and will likely occur during the first two weeks of January 2026. If you can, take the opportunity to make use of this satellite, which has been working very well and has brought much joy to radio amateurs around the world. Any old FM equipment will work, since the repeater is level-activated and does not require a sub-tone.
The frequencies and operating modes are as follows:
SO-124
145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no sub-tone) and FSK 200 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 200–2400 bps
[ANS thanks Félix Páez, EA4GQS, AMSAT-EA for the above information]
Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 21, 2025
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 week there are no changes to the AMSAT TLE Distributions.
[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.
Scheduled Contacts
Istituto Di Istruzione Superiore “Il Tagliamento” Di Spilimbergo (Pn), Spilimbergo, Italy, telebridge via IK1SLD
AND
Istituto Comprensivo “G. Mazzini”, Livorno, Italy, telebridge via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Zena Cardman KJ5CMN
The ARISS mentor is IZ2GOJ
Contact is go for: Fri 2025-11-28 11:40:17 UTC 34 deg
Due to the scheduled docking of the Soyuz scheduled for Thu 2025-11-27 12:38 UTC, the radios will be powered down. Here is the schedule for power down and power up:
Service module radio power down Thu 2025-11-27 10:35 to 10:40 UTC
Columbus module radio power down Thu 2025-11-27 10:40 to 10:45 UTC
Service module radio power up Fri 2025-11-28 10:15 to 10:20 UTC
Columbus module radio power up Fri 2025-11-28 10:20 to 10:25 UTC
Many times a school may make a last minute decision to do a Livestream or run into a last minute glitch requiring a change of the URL but we at ARISS may not get the URL in time for publication. You can always check https://live.ariss.org/ to see if a school is Livestreaming.
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]
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
No events currently scheduled
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 Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]
Satellite Shorts from All Over
+ China is set to launch an uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station to provide the Shenzhou-21 astronauts with a means of returning home. An airspace closure notice issued Nov. 17 indicates that China is preparing the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft and a Long March 2F rocket for launch at around 04:10z. on Nov. 25. (ANS thanks SpaceNews Weekly for the above information)
+ Reports indicate the Lobachevsky (RS83S) will be launched in late December. Although the IARU coordination request indicated that it would carry a digital repeater, the satellite’s website indicates that it carries an FM transponder with a 70cm uplink and a 2m downlink. (ANS thanks SpacePi and PV8DX 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] arrl.net
ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002