ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

November 2, 2025

In this edition:

* AMSAT Receives Two ARDC Grants for Youth Initiative Program
* Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Presents CubeSat Simulator 2025 Updates
* ARISS 2025 Highlights Presented by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
* GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers November Rankings 2025
* VUCC Satellite Standing November 2025
* DXCC Satellite Standing for November 2025
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* ARISS News
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT(R) 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 .

Sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List. Join this list at: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

AMSAT Receives Two ARDC Grants for Youth Initiative Program

Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT Director/VP-Development is pleased to announce that two grant applications were approved this week by Amateur Radio Digital Communication (ARDC).

BuzzSat.com
The first grant is for additional software licenses for production of the BuzzSat.com series of online courses designed for high school students. The first course, “Introduction to Satellite Meteorology’ was introduced at Hamvention 2025.

The production cycle begins with content development by a volunteer subject matter expert. In the case of the satellite meteorology course, retired high school earth science teacher Eric Sonnenwald, N2XSE created content by harvesting open-source material, both text and illustrations, and organizing it into a frame-by-frame presentation.

From there the frames are loaded into a specialized educational authoring program that adds a complex assortment of interactivity tools that help make the learning experience engaging and effective. Constant interaction required of the student helps prevent the lessons from becoming a mind-numbing “next – next – next” page turning sedative.

The authoring software has several AI assisted capabilities including the ability to generate audio narrative for the text and to translate the courseware into up to seventy different languages.

The theme of the lessons is “Satellites in Space Help Us Live a Better Life on Earth.” Fourteen courses are planned for completion by the end of 2026. The courses are free to students, teachers, at-home educators, scouting leaders and lifelong learners of all ages.

You can experience the “Introduction to Satellite Meteorology” course now at www.BuzzSat.com .

KidzSat.com
The second grant is for production of a satellite-themed coloring book for younger elementary-age kids. The coloring pages in the book show how satellites play important roles in almost every aspect of modern life. Satellites and their role in agriculture, navigation, broadcasting, pollution control and wildfire fighting are a few of the twelve topics shown in the book.

Production of the coloring book began about a month before the application for the grant was made. So, the finished book cover as well as sketches for a few inside coloring pages were shown at the AMSAT Space Symposium held in October.

The coloring books will be available before the end of this year for download free-of-charge from the AMSAT sponsored www.KidzSat.com website.

[ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT Director/VP-Development for the above information.]


Only 8 Weeks Left to Get Your Coin!
Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and FoxPlus.

2025 PC Coin Set

Annual memberships start at only $120
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/


Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Presents CubeSat Simulator 2025 Updates

During one of the always popular CubeSat Simulator (CSS) presentations, Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP-Educational Relations showcased recent improvements to the CSS at last months AMSAT Annual Space Symposium.

The AMSAT CubeSatSim, the CubeSat Simulator, is a small, low cost, spacecraft simulator that serves as a tool for academic education, public demonstrations and theory and design disciplines. It can be used in a classroom, lab or training setting to introduce the basics of satellite operations, or it can be used to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) exercises.

The pace of development in 2025 was similar to 2024 with several new features rolled out. The v2.1 software release added two new telemetry modes: FunCube Mode and Cross Band Repeater Mode. In addition, the Fox-in-a-Box v4 Beta Raspberry Pi Ground Station disk image was also released.

Cross Band FM Repeater Mode
The CubeSatSim Cross Band FM Repeater mode uses the FM transceiver module in receive mode, with the squelch pin read by the Raspberry Pi Zero to detect a transmission. This mode utilizes the USB sound card connected to the Pi Zero 2 with the OTG cable, and the audio jumper from the Main board to the sound card provides the received audio to the Pi Zero. The Pi Zero 2 then connects the microphone input to the rpitx transmitter. One of the CubeSatSim antennas is receiving the UHF signal, the other is transmitting the VHF signal at the same time, just like a real CubeSat with an FM repeater.

The v2.0 software release had a Repeater mode, but you couldn’t turn it on and off with the pushbutton, and it was unstable in that the repeater function would stop working and require a reboot. It also had uplink and downlink frequencies in the UHF band which made reception difficult. The v2.1 software release has fixed these issues, and moves the downlink to the VHF band. This provides a “U/V” operation with an FM UHF uplink, VHF downlink similar to many AMSAT CubeSats such as AO-91 (RadFxSat / Fox-1B) and AMSAT-UK AO-73 (FunCube).

New FunCube Mode
The CubeSatSim now has a new FunCube Mode 7. This BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) 1200 bps (bits-per-second) transmission mode emulates the AMSAT-UK FunCube CubeSat (AO-73) and several other CubeSats that also use this transmission including Nayif 1 (EO-88), UKube-1, and JY1 Sat (JO-97). The transmission is very similar to the Fox-1E BPSK 1200 bps transmission already supported by the CubeSatSim in BPSK Mode 3. However, it has a different data structure and error correction. Special thanks to Duncan Hills, the lead FunCube Dashboard developer from AMSAT-UK who provided technical details and support to get this code working! If you listen to this mode, it sounds similar to BPSK, except for every four seconds it sounds like there is a “beep” or tone.

To decode FunCube telemetry, you need a FunCube Dongle (FCDPro or FCDPro+) and decoding software (an RTL-SDR dongle will not work). For the FunCube satellites in orbit, there is a Windows Dashboard for each satellite that decodes the telemetry and uploads the data to the AMSAT-UK Data Warehouse. We don’t yet have a Windows Dashboard, but we do have a Raspberry Pi application which will decode it. It is part of the new Fox-in-a-Box-v4 beta image.

The telemetry data is a similar format to JY1 Sat (JO-97) with a camera image and telemetry data in each frame. Unlike the CubeSatSim SSTV mode 4 which uses tones to transmit image pixels in Scottie 2 format, FunCube uses SSDV to encode JPEG images suitable for packetization. It uses the Reed-Solomon codec written by Phil Karn, KA9Q. You can see the image come in block by block, and if a frame is lost, there is a rectangular dropout in the image. Otherwise, the image quality is perfect. This makes an interesting comparison with the analog SSTV Mode 4 in which the image quality degrades as the signal strength decreases.

Future Updates
We are also working on a software update for v2.2 which will add these capabilities:

  • Improved simulated telemetry providing more realistic data.
  • Support for humidity and gyroscope/accelerometer sensors attached to Pi Zero 2.
  • Simulated failures.

Activity Guides
In 2025, we released the first set of CubeSatSim Activity Guides. The problem statement for the Activity Guides is “I just built (or borrowed) a CubeSatSim. What can I do with it?” Activity Guides are step-by-step instructions for how to do a STEM educational activity using a CubeSatSim. Most work with just a CubeSatSim (or even just a Lite). Some are very easy to do, such as listening to the sounds of the different modes on a HT and/or looking at modes on an SDR waterfall. Others are more challenging such as doing telemetry analysis using FoxTelem. Activity Guides include questions for students to answer as they do the activity. Each also has an Instructors Guide which has example data and answers to the questions.

The CubeSatSim Activity Guides are released under a Creative Commons with Attribution license so anyone can edit and modify them as long as they indicate they were originally developed by AMSAT. This allows teachers to customize them and include them in their lesson plans.

To read Alan’s complete presentation, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/19o1GsO-R3Btt35AqIsXj4EJPn3eNADcd/view .

[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP-Educational Relations 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/


ARISS 2025 Highlights Presented by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

The 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting featured a special presentation of the Amateur Radio aboard the International Space Station (ARISS) by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS Executive Director. The prerecorded presentation highlighted many accomplishments for the year 2025.

A major accomplishment was achieving 25 years of continuous Amateur Radio operation aboard the space station.

While celebrating that achievement, ARISS is aware of substantial changes happening in the space industry and embraces the shift towards commercial missions.

With the upcoming decommissioning of ISS in the next five to six years, ARISS is listening to its NASA and ISS U.S. National Laboratory priorities. As a result, ARISS has modified the emphasis of its mission as follow:

  • An independent backup communications capability for ISS
  • Boosts ISS crew morale through enriching youth, community and Amateur Radio engagement
  • Inspires, engages and educates K-16 youth in STEM/STEAM via 10-minute Amateur Radio contacts with the on-orbit crew – a workforce development powerhouse
  • During 4-6 month pre-contact preparations, students learn about space exploration and science research, space communications, radio science & technology using Amateur Radio and on-going ISS research activities
  • Youth contacts keep astronauts proficient in ARISS radio operations and ground stations proficient in support of ISS backup communications.

The main ARISS prime initiatives continue to be STEM/STEAM education, spaceflight hardware development and spaceflight operations. Now, ARISS 2.0 educational vision for the future is to inspire, engage and educate students and lifelong learners. This means:

  • More extensive educational outcomes for all
  • Engaging educational projects and lesson plans
  • Multiple space stations on ISS and commercial missions, and
    Lunar orbiters and landers

Bauer described the initiative that are currently underway including:

  • The ARISS payload is now a facility on ISS, enabling partnerships to employ ARISS facility
  • Expansion to Axiom commercial space station flights
  • Expansion to Crew Dragon via Fram2Ham missions
  • More SSTV opportunities
  • Educational Extension initiatives
    • STEREO/SPARKI kits
    • ARISS STAR astronaut contacts
    • Student Mission Control program

Frank then spoke in detail about several outstanding successes for the year such as the Fram2Ham mission and the ever popular slow-scan television (SSTV) operations. Both events enjoyed exceptional exposure and impressive participation by students around the world.

Bauer went on to thank NASA, the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, the ARRL and AMSAT for financial and in-kind support and to Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) for critical resources.

You can view the complete presentation AMSAT’s You Tube channel at https://youtu.be/loM80Jr8RUk .

[ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS Executive Director for the above information.]


GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers November Rankings 2025

The November 2025 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 October 31, 2025

Updated: 2025-10-31

1 ND9M 26 KX9X 51 KE0PBR 76 SP5XSD
2 NJ7H 27 KG5CCI 52 XE3DX 77 DL4EA
3 UT1FG 28 DJ8MS 53 W7WGC 78 N6UTC
4 JA9KRO 29 N5BO 54 JK2XXK 79 N4UFO
5 N5UC 30 ON4AUC 55 PR8KW 80 VE7PTN
6 F5VMJ 31 K8BL 56 EA4NF 81 PT2AP
7 DL6AP 32 KE4AL 57 XE1ET 82 VE1VOX
8 WI7P 33 KB5FHK 58 N6DNM 83 KB2YSI
9 DP0POL 34 AC0RA 59 EB1AO 84 KI7UXT
10 K5ZM 35 PA3GAN 60 WD5GRW 85 AF5CC
11 OE3SEU 36 KI0KB 61 LU4JVE 86 AA8CH
12 WY7AA 37 F4BKV 62 W8LR 87 KJ7NDY
13 N6UA 38 VE3HLS 63 W1AW 88 BI1MHK
14 HA3FOK 39 KI7UNJ 64 KI7QEK 89 PT9BM
15 LU5ILA 40 VA3VGR 65 SM3NRY 90 FG8OJ
16 W5PFG 41 JO2ASQ 66 KE9AJ 91 YU0W
17 N9IP 42 BG7QIW 67 F4DXV 92 BG5CZD
18 AK8CW 43 HJ5LVR 68 VE1CWJ 93 WA9JBQ
19 AD0DX 44 LA9XGA 69 AA5PK 94 W8MTB
20 AD0HJ 45 VK5DG 70 AD7DB 95 N4DCW
21 ND0C 46 N7AGF 71 KM4LAO 96 VE3GOP
22 N4AKV 47 K7TAB 72 M1DDD 97 JM1CAX
23 WD9EWK 48 DF2ET 73 HB9GWJ 98 PS8BR
24 BA1PK 49 JL3RNZ 74 VA7LM 99 K0FFY
25 DL2GRC 50 KE0WPA 75 N8RO 100 KG4AKV

[ANS thanks ANS thanks Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, and @GridMasterMap for the above information.]


VUCC Satellite Standing November 2025

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for October 1, 2025 to November 1, 2025.

WA4NVM 1676 1683
N8RO 1490 1505
JN2QCV 1075 1159
EA2AA 1125 1135
W2GDJ 1022 1075
VU2LBW 902 1000
W8LR 919 921
N8MR 783 801
WA4HFN 727 738
KA9CFD 608 704
N7ZO 669 670
KO9A 547 565
K6SFO 501 550
XE1BJ 304 501
DL8GAM 450 500
W3TI 465 469
KK7OVF 103 300
SV8CKM 215 273
KP4MV 175 200
EI8JB New 175
WB5TX 144 151
WD9EWK/DM62 130 137
PT2VM New 100
TI3IES New 100

Congratulations to the new VUCC Satellite holders.

EI8JB is first VUCC Satellite holder from IO63
PT2VM is first VUCC Satellite holder from GH64
TI3IES is first VUCC Satellite holder from EJ89

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


DXCC Satellite Standing for November 2025

DXCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for October 1, 2025 to November 1, 2025.

EA2AA 164 167
DL6GBM 160 165
PA7RA 147 148
E70A 135 139
W2GDJ 113 122
ZS2Y New 109
OE3JAG 102 104
IW3SSA New 100
ZS2Y New 109
IW3SSA New 100

Congratulations to the new DXCC Satellite holders.

ZS2Y is first DXCC Satellite holder from KF2S
IW3SSA is first DXCC Satellite holder from JN66

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ 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-NA TLE Distribution for October 31, 2005

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 additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.

[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
Petofi Sandor Evangelikus Gimnazium, Kollegium es Altalanos Iskola, Mezobereny, Hungary.
Telebridge via K6DUE.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Zena Cardman, KJ5CMN.
Contact is go for Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 09:00:17 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.]


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 News Logo

None currently scheduled.

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


Satellite Shorts From All Over

  • With SpaceX’s 10,000th Starlink satellite launched to orbit, and 8,562 active as of Oct 20th, a staggering 2/3rds of humanity’s active satellites in orbit are controlled by a single private company. [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.]
  • Two former NASA administrators criticized the agency’s current approach to using SpaceX’s Starship for the Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing, calling for an urgent redirection to reach the moon before China. In a fireside chat at the American Astronautical Society’s von Braun Space Exploration Symposium on Oct. 29, former administrators Charlie Bolden and Jim Bridenstine expressed skepticism that NASA’s current Artemis architecture. China aims to conduct the first launch of its Long March 10 rocket and a lunar-capable crew spacecraft next year, according to a top official. The announcement from the China Manned Space Engineering Office comes as the U.S. prepares to send its Artemis 2 crewed mission around the moon as soon as February 2026.[ANS thanks Space News This Week 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, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW.
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

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

ANS-278 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

October 5, 2025

In this edition:

  • AMSAT 43rd Space Symposium Banquet Reservations Close Thursday, October 9, 2025
  • ARISS Announces SSTV Event Begins October 3, 2025
  • 43rd Annual AMSAT Symposium Speakers List Announced
  • Four US Schools/Organizations Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
  • A Review of the futureGEO Workshop 2025 in Bochum
  • VUCC & DXCC Satellite Standings October 2025
  • GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers October 2025 Rankings
  • Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for October 3, 2025
  • ARISS News
  • AMSAT Ambassador Activities
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT(R) 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 .

Sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List. Join this list at: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

AMSAT 43rd Space Symposium Banquet Reservations Close Thursday, October 9, 2025

Those planning to attend the banquet at the 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting must have their reservation made no later than Thursday, October 9, 2025.

The banquet menu offers the following buffet features:

  • Tossed Garden Salad
  • Herb Encrusted Chicken Breast
  • Grilled Salmon with Cilantro Ginger Crust
  • Grilled Sirloin with Wild Mushrooms
  • Rice Pilaf
  • Scalloped Potatoes
  • Roasted Seasonal Vegetables
  • Seasonal Cheesecake
  • Flourless Chocolate Cake
  • Coffee and Tea
  •  

The keynote speaker for the banquet is Liam Cheney, PMP. Liam is an aerospace consultant and founder of Footstep Aerospace by AG3, LLC, where he supports mission integration, strategy, and business development for the space industry. Over the past decade, he has contributed to the successful launch and deployment of numerous CubeSat missions, including many flown through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), where he previously served as a Mission Manager. He has helped launch multiple AMSAT-supported missions during his time at NASA, Tyvak, and SRI International. Liam also served as the launch services Mission Manager for PREFIRE, which launched in 2024 on back-to-back Rocket Lab Electron flights to study polar heat loss and improve climate modeling.

Keynote Speaker Liam Cheney (Photo courtesy Liam Cheney.)

He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he authored a thesis on safety standards for CubeSat propulsion systems and contributed to the university’s CubeSat Program. A member of AMSAT, Liam lives in Kansas City with his wife and two children and enjoys astrophotography and craft coffee.

Regrettably, walk-in registrations for the banquet cannot be accepted at the Symposium.

Make your reservation today at https://launch.amsat.org/Events .

[ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT Board of Directors, for the above information.]


Your 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coin Is Waiting!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
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/


ARISS SSTV Event Runs Through October 20, 2025

The ARISS team is working towards two short SSTV activations for October 2025. Both of these are expected to start on a Friday and end on the following Monday.

The first event is ARISS’ traditional celebration of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in 1957. The SSTV activation started on Friday, October 3 and will run to end on Monday, October 6. SSTV will be paused for a short time (~ 60 minutes) on Saturday October 4 for a special student voice contact.

The second SSTV campaign is tentatively scheduled to start on Friday, October 17, with a short pause (~60 minutes) for a special student contact on Saturday, October 18, and resume until completion on Monday, October 20.

This interval roughly coincides with the International Scouting Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and the SSTV image theme is expected to deal with Scouting.

ARISS expects to offer separate electronic award diplomas for participants who receive at least one image from a campaign and submit it to the SSTV gallery.

Tentative times for the first event are:
2025-10-03 1140 UTC start
2025-10-04 1000 UTC pause for a school event
2025-10-04 1100 UTC resume
2025-10-06 TBD UTC stop

[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.]


43rd Annual AMSAT Symposium Speakers List Announced

The 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium has an impressive list of presentations scheduled for October 17 and October 18.

Credit: Holiday Inn Suites Phoenix Airport North

Friday, October 17*

Start Speaker Topic
1:00 PM Introduction/Announcements  
1:05 PM AMSAT President Welcome
1:15 PM Cameron Castillo, KJ7ILB ASCENT Team Propulsion
1:45 PM Jim McCullers, WA4CWI Oscar to OsTrax
2:15 PM Andrew Robinson, KA3WDW FoxPlus Mechanical Layout & Design
3:00 PM Heimir Thor Sverrisson, W1ANT Extending Command and Control for GOLF
3:30 PM Frank Bauer, KA3HDO ARISS
4:00 PM Frank Karnauskas, N1UW Youth Initiative
4:30 PM Jim White, WD0E ARDC

Saturday, October 18*

Start Speaker Topic
8:00 AM Alan Johnston, KU2Y CubeSatSim Update & Demonstration
9:00 AM Agastya Bose, KJ5MSH CubeSatSim
9:15 AM Larry Ryan, W7DGP CubeSatSim
9:30 AM Frederic Raab, KK6NOW Bridging Orbit and Classroom: SatNOGS/CubeSatSim
10:15 AM Burns Fisher, WB1FJ A New Use for Fox & MESAT-1 Whole Orbit Data Algorithm
10:45 AM Burns Fisher, WB1FJ Telemetry for FoxPlus & GOLF CubeSats
11:15 AM Kipton Moravec, AE5IB GOLF-TEE Electrical Power Supply (EPS)
1:00 PM Jerry Buxton, N0JY Engineering / GOLF-TEE Update
2:00 PM Mike Moore, K4MVM FoxPlus Update
2:30 PM AMSAT President Annual General Meeting

* All times are Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7). Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time.
The presentations will be live streamed on AMSAT’s You Tube Channel, recorded and made available for viewing at a later time.
You can view the complete Symposium schedule at https://www.amsat.org/43rd-amsat-space-symposium-and-annual-general-meeting/ .

[ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT Board of Directors, for the above information.]


Four US Schools/Organizations Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the US schools/host organizations newly selected for 2026 ARISS contacts. A total of 4 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS.

The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for the 4 US host organizations during the Jan 2026 – June 2026 time period. They are now at work starting to implement their 4–6 month education plan which was outlined in their proposal. These STEAM based educational activities help prepare students for their contact as well as create an on-going exploration and interest in aerospace and amateur radio topics. They are also completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by ARISS, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

The schools and host organizations are:

  • ASU STEM Preparatory Academy Mesa, AZ
  • Conn Magnet Elementary School Raleigh, NC
  • The Center for Creativity, Innovation, and Discovery Providence, UT
  • EcoTarium Worcester, MA

The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

[ANS thanks ARISS 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/


A Review of the futureGEO Workshop 2025 in Bochum

On September 19, 2025, the futureGEO workshop took place under the radome of the Bochum Observatory. Organized by AMSAT-DL with the support of ESA, the event brought together international experts, representatives of amateur radio organizations and dedicated radio amateurs who had previously declared their active participation in an appeal and submitted corresponding proposals. In the spring, AMSAT-DL had invited potential interested parties as part of an RFEI. The aim was to build on the experience gained with QO-100 and to jointly define the first concrete mission ideas for a future amateur radio payload in geostationary orbit.

(Photo courtesy AMSAT-DL)

The workshop was held as a hybrid event. The group was made up of one half who were present on site and the other half who took part online via ZOOM. Andrew Glasbrenner, K04MA, AMSAT VP – Operations represented AMSAT-USA at the meeting.

The purpose of the workshop was to collect, cluster and prioritize ideas:

  • Mission & Services – Which communication services and experiments should a new GEO payload enable?
  • Payload & antennas – What technical solutions are conceivable?
  • Ground station & operation – How can control and operation be organized?
  • User segment – Who should have access and how?

In a concluding reflection among the participants, it became clear how much QO-100 has revitalized and enriched the amateur radio community:

  • Affordable entry into microwave communication with low-cost SDRs and LNBs.
  • Development of open source software such as DVB-S2 encoders and decoders.
  • Educational projects from schools to schools contacts with Antarctica and other events.

The participants hope that radio amateurs can be even more involved in the construction of the hardware of a futureGEO with appropriate personal contribution, transparency and participation than was possible with QO-100 due to NDAs with the manufacturers and owners of the parent satellite.

The next steps are clear: The mission ideas developed in the workshop will be further concretized and should be available by the end of 2025 in the form of 1-3 consolidated mission concepts that are both technically exciting and attractive to the international amateur radio community and must also be technically feasible.

Read the entire story at https://amsat-dl.org/en/review-futuregeo-workshop-2025-in-bochum/ .

[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information.]


VUCC & DXCC Satellite Standings October 2025

VUCC Satellite Standings for October 2025
VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for September 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025

JK2XXK 1103 1208
XE1AO 1177 1185
HB9AOF 907 1016
IK3ITB 900 1000
KQ4DO 952 983
W8LR 916 919
KS1G 754 768
LY4AA 670 729
LA6OP 632 663
W0JW 341 654
HB9GWJ 602 631
KO9A 545 547
AB1OC 476 479
K3HPA 400 425
N4QWF 350 376
K5WO 304 326
OH3DP 256 300
AA6DY New 167
JA9OJM 128 151
WB5TX 135 143
S21DX New 128
KM6HB New 104
W5QZ New 102

Congratulations to the new VUCC Satellite holders.
AA6DY New 167
S21DX New 128
KM6HB New 104
W5QZ New 102

S21DX is first VUCC Satellite holder from NL51

DXCC Satellite Standings for October 2025
DXCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for September 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025.

OE9DGV 215 217
HB9RYZ 164 166
LA6OP 154 159
HB9GWJ 143 150
G4BWP 110 134
F6EXV New 114
I4DOR 109 113
US0SY New 101
9A1CAL New 100
KQ4DO New 100

Congratulations to the new DXCC Satellite holders.
F6EXV New 114
US0SY New 101
9A1CAL New 100
KQ4DO New 100

9A1CAL is first DXCC Satellite holder from Croatia and JN86

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


GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers October 2025 Rankings

The October 2025 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: 2025-10-02

1 ND9M 26 KX9X 51 KE0PBR 76 KM4LAO
2 NJ7H 27 DJ8MS 52 KE0WPA 77 VA7LM
3 UT1FG 28 KG5CCI 53 JK2XXK 78 VE7PTN
4 JA9KRO 29 ON4AUC 54 EA4NF 79 N4UFO
5 N5UC 30 N5BO 55 PR8KW 80 N6UTC
6 F5VMJ 31 K8BL 56 XE1ET 81 PT2AP
7 DL6AP 32 KE4AL 57 EB1AO 82 AA8CH
8 DP0POL 33 PA3GAN 58 W7WGC 83 VE1VOX
9 OE3SEU 34 F4BKV 59 LU4JVE 84 FG8OJ
10 WI7P 35 KB5FHK 60 N6DNM 85 PT9BM
11 K5ZM 36 AC0RA 61 SM3NRY 86 YU0W
12 WY7AA 37 JO2ASQ 62 F4DXV 87 KI7UXT
13 HA3FOK 38 VA3VGR 63 KI7QEK 88 KJ7NDY
14 LU5ILA 39 KI0KB 64 W8LR 89 AF5CC
15 N6UA 40 VE3HLS 65 W1AW 90 KB2YSI
16 W5PFG 41 KI7UNJ 66 AA5PK 91 VE3GOP
17 N9IP 42 LA9XGA 67 WD5GRW 92 K0FFY
18 DL2GRC 43 HJ5LVR 68 VE1CWJ 93 JM1CAX
19 AK8CW 44 BG7QIW 69 KE9AJ 94 PS8BR
20 N4AKV 45 DF2ET 70 M1DDD 95 BI1MHK
21 AD0DX 46 N7AGF 71 AD7DB 96 W8MTB
22 AD0HJ 47 JL3RNZ 72 HB9GWJ 97 DK9JC
23 ND0C 48 VK5DG 73 SP5XSD 98 WA9JBQ
24 BA1PK 49 K7TAB 74 DL4EA 99 N4DCW
25 WD9EWK 50 XE3DX 75 N8RO 100 KG4AKV

[ANS thanks Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ ANS Rotating Editor and @GridMasterMap for the above information.]

[ANS thanks _ 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-NA TLE Distribution for October 3, 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 additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.

[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
Paterson P-Tech High School/ Paterson Public Schools, Paterson, New Jersey, direct via W2NPT
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1S .
The scheduled crewmember is Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH.
The ARISS mentor is AB1OC.
Contact is go for Monday, October 6. 2025 at 14:24:46 UTC.

Namibia Scientific Society, Windhoek, Namibia, telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH.
The ARISS mentor is KA3HDO.
Contact is go for Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 10:37:18 UTC.

Completed Contacts
Pobeda schools, Aznakaevsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via RC4P.
The ISS callsign was RSØISS.
The crewmember was Sergey Ryzhikov.
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR.
Contact was successful on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 1 10:45 UTC.

Instituto Politecnico Nacional: Planetario “Luis Enrique Erro”, Mexico City (Gustavo A. Madero), Mexico, Direct via XE2L.
The ISS callsign was NA1SS.
The crewmember was Zena Cardman, KJ5CMN.
The ARISS mentor was VE3TBD.
Contact was successful on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 16:40:40 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.]


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 News Logo

October 11, 2025
North Star Radio Convention

Hennepin Technical College
9000 Brooklyn Boulevard
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
https://northstarradio.org/
ADØHJ

October 16, 17, 18, 19, 2025
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting and 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting

Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North
1515 North 44th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85008
Details at https://www.amsat.org/2025-symposium/ .

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


Satellite Shorts From All Over

  • Suryono Adisoemarta, YD0NXX/N5SNN, Amateur Radio Organization of Indonesia, reports “September 28, 2025, was the 10th anniversary of IO-86 (Indonesia OSCAR 86) Satellite. The host vehicle, LAPAN A2 satellite, was launched from India using a PSLV rocket. This 10 years of almost problem-free satellite is beyond imagination, as the service year was designed only for 2 years. Currently the FM voice repeater payload is still working good , only the APRS digipeater is showing reduced sensitivity . The same digipeater box, a Tracker2, that was purchased at the same time in 2008 currently on my bench is also showing the same symptom. Hopefully we can have another 10 years of service from this satellite.” [ANS thanks Suryono Adisoemarta, YD0NXX/N5SNN, Amateur Radio Organization of Indonesia for the above information.]

  • M2 Antenna Systems Sales Manager Robert Brown, KR7O reports that LEO Pack antenna systems are back in stock and once again available in the AMSAT Store Despite the factory working nearly around the clock, the LEO Pack had been out-of-stock for several months due to a suddden increase in commercial and government orders. The good news is, at this time, there is no price increase. [ANS thanks M2 Antenna Systems Sales Manager Robert Brown, KR7O, 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, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW.
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

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

ANS-250 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

September 07, 2025

In this edition:

* AMSAT Ambassadors Show at HamXposition Convention
* AMSAT Announces Two New GridMaster Award Recipients
* Register Now – AMSAT Symposium Prices Increase September 16th
* AMSAT Board of Directors Election Ends September 15, 2025
* GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers – September 2025 Rankings
* VUCC Satellite Standing September 2025
* DXCC Satellite Standing for September 2025
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for September, 5, 2025
* ARISS News
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT(R) 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 .

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/

AMSAT Ambassadors Show at HamXposition Convention

AMSAT was well represented at the 2025 HamXposition held in Marlborough, MA. The event was also the ARRL New England Convention.

AMSAT Senior Software Engineer Burns Fisher, WB1FJ; AMSAT Hamvention Chair Phil Smith, W1EME; and AMSAT Board of Director Barry Baines, WD4ASW staffed the booth during the weekend of August 21-24.

AMSAT booth staffers Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Phil Smith, W1EME, and Fisher, WB1FJ. (Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF photo)

The booth was appropriately decked out with the AMSAT Ambassador flag as well as other signage from previous events. An Arrow antenna was displayed on a Portable Rotation System plus a 3D printed model of the 3U GOLF-TEE satellite with deployable solar panels. An AMSAT CubeSat Simulator was operating during the event and sold on Sunday.

AMSAT provided a door prize, a copy of SatPC 32 software that was won by Roger Pushor, NK1I.

On Saturday afternoon, Burns Fisher presented “AMSAT Golf-TEE Software-How Does it Work” during the forum. His talk was about the flight software on Golf-TEE including how multiple processors are coordinated.

A second presentation, titled “SDR Transponder/Transceiver,” was delivered by Ray Roberge, WA1CYB. Ray is a member of the AMSAT Engineering Team.

[ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW, for the above information.]

 


Your 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coin Is Waiting!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox-Plus.

2025 PC Coin Set

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


AMSAT Announces Two New GridMaster Award Recipients

It is with great pleasure that AMSAT announces two new recipients of the GridMaster Awards in the past week.

Bruce Robertson, VE7PTN, has achieved the AMSAT GridMaster Award #74 by confirming all 488 maidenhead grid squares in the continental United States. In his announcement Bruce thanked “everyone for the QSOs, and especially the rovers—thanks for roving.” His recognition of the portable operators who make rare grids possible underscores the community spirit at the heart of this award.

GridMaster Plaque

Grace Papay, K8LG, has also earned the AMSAT GridMaster Award, becoming recipient #73. Like all GridMasters, this reflects years of dedication in working and confirming all 488 CONUS grids. Her achievement places her in the very small circle of operators who have reached this milestone.

[ANS thanks Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, for the above information.]


Register Now – AMSAT Symposium Prices Increase September 16th

Discounted registration for the 2025 AMSAT Symposium, to be held October 17-19, 2025 in Phoenix, AZ will be available through September 15th. Prices increase on September 16th.

Credit: Holiday Inn Suites Phoenix Airport North

For details, visit https://www.amsat.org/43rd-amsat-space-symposium-and-annual-general-meeting/ .

Proposals for Symposium papers and presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your paper or presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 8th for inclusion in the Symposium Proceedings.

Proposals for presentations at the Symposium do not require a paper. Presentations will be recorded and made available on AMSAT’s YouTube Channel and transcribed and published with its slides in the Proceedings.

Proposals should be sent to Frank Karnauskas, N1UW via f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org .

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]


AMSAT Board of Directors Election Ends September 15, 2025

Four seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year. The four candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected to the seats and the candidate receiving the next largest number of votes shall be declared the First Alternate. Members’ opportunity to vote ends on Monday September 15, 2025. Results will be announced no later that September 30, 2025.

The following candidates who have been duly nominated are as follows:

  • Barry Baines, WD4ASW
  • Jerry Buxton, NØJY
  • Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
  • Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
  • Douglas Tabor, N6UA

AMSAT members may review the candidate statements and cast their ballots at https://launch.amsat.org/2025-BoD-Election .

[ANS thanks Douglas Tabor, N6UA, AMSAT Secretary, 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/


GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers – September 2025 Rankings

The September 2025 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: 2025-09-04

1 ND9M 26 KX9X 51 KE0WPA 76 M1DDD
2 NJ7H 27 DJ8MS 52 KE0PBR 77 KM4LAO
3 UT1FG 28 KG5CCI 53 JK2XXK 78 VE7PTN
4 JA9KRO 29 ON4AUC 54 EA4NF 79 N4UFO
5 N5UC 30 N5BO 55 PR8KW 80 N6UTC
6 F5VMJ 31 K8BL 56 XE1ET 81 PT2AP
7 DL6AP 32 KE4AL 57 EB1AO 82 AA8CH
8 DP0POL 33 PA3GAN 58 W7WGC 83 VE1VOX
9 OE3SEU 34 KB5FHK 59 LU4JVE 84 FG8OJ
10 WI7P 35 AC0RA 60 N6DNM 85 PT9BM
11 K5ZM 36 JO2ASQ 61 SM3NRY 86 YU0W
12 WY7AA 37 F4BKV 62 F4DXV 87 KI7UXT
13 LU5ILA 38 HJ5LVR 63 W8LR 88 KJ7NDY
14 N6UA 39 KI0KB 64 KI7QEK 89 AF5CC
15 W5PFG 40 VA3VGR 65 W1AW 90 K0FFY
16 N9IP 41 VE3HLS 66 AA5PK 91 JM1CAX
17 HA3FOK 42 KI7UNJ 67 WD5GRW 92 VE3GOP
18 DL2GRC 43 LA9XGA 68 VE1CWJ 93 PS8BR
19 AK8CW 44 BG7QIW 69 KE9AJ 94 W8MTB
20 N4AKV 45 DF2ET 70 AD7DB 95 KB2YSI
21 AD0DX 46 N7AGF 71 HB9GWJ 96 DK9JC
22 AD0HJ 47 VK5DG 72 SP5XSD 97 N4DCW
23 ND0C 48 K7TAB 73 DL4EA 98 KG4AKV
24 BA1PK 49 JL3RNZ 74 N8RO 99 WA9JBQ
25 WD9EWK 50 XE3DX 75 VA7LM 100 N0TEL

 

[ANS thanks Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, and @GridMasterMap for the above information.]


VUCC Satellite Standing September 2025

Here are the VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for August 01, 2025 to September 01, 2025.

Call August September
W5CBF 1554 1788
EA2AA 1100 1125
K8LG 1030 1106
JA1QJI 600 1006
W8LR 911 916
E70A 796 840
KC4CJ 751 776
KP3V 526 600
K5ND 530 531
HP2VX 516 527
JO4JKL 401 511
DJ7NT 432 510
K3HPA 375 400
WA3YDZ 271 353
WD5GRW (EM13QC) 213 313
WD5GRW 213 312
OH3DP 226 256
PU5DDC 213 241
NK0S 171 175
W4BB 100 159
WB5TX 128 135

 

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


DXCC Satellite Standing for September 2025

DXCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for August 01, 2025 to September 1, 2025.

Call August September
DK9JC 152 180
I3BUI 172 180
G4GIR 172 176
ZS1LS 168 175
SV8CS 165 167
YO2KHK 158 165
EA2AA 162 164
PS7JN 126 150
E70A 125 135
IK8YSS 111 133
TF1A 113 116
W8LR 114 115
TA4SO New 101
DF5SF New 100
EI6KC New 100

 

Congratulations to the new DXCC Satellite holders.

TA4SO is first DXCC Satellite holder from Turkey and KM47
EI6KC is first DXCC Satellite holder from Ireland and IO63

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ 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-NA TLE Distribution for September, 5, 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 additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.

[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

Taka Town Board of Education Children’s Future Division, Taka Town, Japan, direct via JA3YRL.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH.
The ARISS mentor is Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ .
Contact is go for Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 09:22:34 UTC.

Completed Contacts

Ethiopian Space Science Society, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Telebridge via VK4KHZ.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The crewmember was Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH.
The ARISS mentor was Peter Kofler, IN3GHZ.
Contact was successful on Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 08:23:14 UTC.

Research Vessel E/V Nautilus in the Pacific, (was near Howland and Baker Island, US Territory; but then headed to Rarotonga, Cook Islands for repairs). Telebridge via K6DUE.
The ISS callsign was NA1SS.
The crewmember was Zena Cardman, KJ5CMN.
The ARISS mentor was Ana Guzman, KI5SDP.
Contact was successful on Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 09:03:21.

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.

Scheduled Radio Power-down and Power-up Times

Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 08:15 UTC Power-down due to Progress 91P Undock
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 14:00 UTC Power-up due to Progress 91P Undock
Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 12:35 UTC Power-down due to Progress 93P Arrival
Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 14:00 UTC Power-up due to Progress 93P Arrival

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.]


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 News Logo

September 27, 2025
Radio Society of Tucson Autumn Hamfest
Calvary Lutheran Church
8711 E. Speedway
Tucson, AZ
https://k7rst.club/2025/08/rst-autumn-hamfest-2025/
N1UW

October 11, 2025
North Star Radio Convention
Hennepin Technical College
9000 Brooklyn Boulevard
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
https://northstarradio.org/
ADØHJ

October 16, 17, 18, 19, 2025
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting and 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting
Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North
1515 North 44th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85008
https://www.amsat.org/2025-symposium/

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


Satellite Shorts From All Over

  • AMSAT Ambassador Tom Schuessler, N5HYP had a great opportunity to present a “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” talk on Monday, August 25th to the Denton County Amateur Radio Association, DCARA, of Denton, Texas. There were at least 50 in attendance in the room plus a few more by Zoom. After Tom’s presentation Andrew Koenig, KE5GDB delivered a wrap-up report on Richardson Wireless Klub’s August 23rd high altitude balloon launch. Their craft had multiple amateur radio payloads and cameras on board. The balloon was launched from Old Celina Park in Celina TX, and ascended to a maximum altitude of 105,528 feet before bursting and (rapidly) descending back to the ground just north of Justin TX. The cross-band VHF/UHF repeater was the star of the show, with hams in all directions reporting clear communications including Johnson Space Center and Pearland to the South, Abilene and Amarillo to the West, and several stations in Arkansas to the Northeast. The report with some great images can be found on the K5RWK web site https://www.k5rwk.org/2025/08/24/rwk-high-altitude-balloon-launch-wrapup-august-23rd/ . [ANS thanks Tom Schuessler, N5HYP for the above information.]
  • The RSGB 2025 Convention will be held on October 1-12 at the Kents Hill Conference Centre, Milton Keynes. The program is full of entertaining, intriguing and thought-provoking presentations and have been organized into three streams: Discover. Learn. Progress. The organizers are also excited to offer three workshops to help attendees learn and develop skills in a practical setting. Young hams who are under 21 you can attend the Convention free of charge. Attendees who are under the age of 16 you must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The presentations will be streamed live by the BATC and recorded for later viewing on You Tube. Streaming links will be made available as the event gets closer. Information on the complete presentation schedule and registration details can be found at https://rsgb.org/main/rsgb-convention-2025 . [ANS thanks the RSGB for the above information.]
  • The 5th Edition of the AM1SAT Biennial Contest Organized by URE and AMSAT-EA, will take place from September 15-21, 2025, as part of the activities of the IberRadio 2025 event, the 10th Radiocommunications Fair, the largest amateur radio event in Spain (see https://www.iberradio.es/). The goal is to establish the longest possible radio contacts during the competition through satellites orbiting Earth in LEO orbits. In total, the 15 longest contacts during the competition period will be evaluated. The use of a GEO satellite is deliberately avoided, as equal treatment among participants cannot be guaranteed either on the GEO satellite itself or worldwide. Complete rules for the contest can be found at https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/14094293/AM1SAT+2025+Contest+-+English.pdf . [ANS thanks AMSAT-EA for the above information.]
  • SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully finished a test reboost of the International Space Station on September 3rd according to NASA. The freighter fired two of its Draco engines for 5 minutes and 3 seconds during the maneuver, agency officials wrote in a Wednesday statement. The ISS orbits roughly 250 miles above Earth on average but naturally falls back to our planet due to atmospheric drag. Visiting cargo spacecraft therefore take on the job of lifting the orbiting complex higher every few months. On Wednesday, Dragon’s efforts got the station to an orbit of 260.9 by 256.3 miles according to NASA. “The new boost kit in Dragon will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude through a series of longer burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025,” agency officials added. NASA has said these tests will also be important for another SpaceX job down the road: deorbiting the ISS itself. Read the full story at https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/spacex-dragon-cargo-capsule-boosts-iss-higher-above-earth-in-key-test . [ANS thanks Space.com 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, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

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

 

ANS-166 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

In this edition:

  • Hotel Reservations for 43rd AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Now Available
  • Hard Copy Getting Started in Amateur Satellites Now Available
  • Bankston Introduces Hamvention 2025 AMSAT Forum
  • Burns Fisher – The Legacy of AMSAT Flight Software
  • SkyRoof – A Specialized Satellite Tracking Program for SDR’s
  • VUCC Satellite Standing June 2025
  • DXCC Satellite Standing June 2025
  • Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 13, 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 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.

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/

Hotel Reservations for 43rd AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Now Available

Book your room now! The 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting will be held Thursday, October 16th through Sunday, October 19th. The site of the 2025 event will be the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North.

For your planning purposes, the overall schedule for the event is as follows:

Thursday, October 16th
0900 – 1700 Board of Directors Meeting

Friday, October 17th
0900 – 1200 Board of Directors Meeting
1300 – 1700 Symposium Presentations
1800 – 2100 Reception & Auction

Saturday, October 18th
0900 – 1200 Symposium Presentations
1300 – 1500 Symposium Presentations
1500 – 1700 Annual General Meeting
1800 – 1900 Reception
1900 – 2100 Banquet

Sunday, October 19th
0800 – 1000 Members Breakfast

Credit: Holiday Inn Suites Phoenix Airport North

The Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North is located minutes away from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and features:

  • Free airport shuttle and parking
  • Resort-style facility with beautiful courtyard, outdoor pool, brew pub.
  • Free breakfast
  • Fully updated rooms
  • All rooms are two-room suites with choice of 2 Queen beds or 1 King Bed
  • Affordable rates of only $129 plus tax.

Make your reservations now!
You must make your reservation directly with the hotel to enjoy this special rate.

Group Code: P7C
Group Name: AMSAT

BY PHONE
Reservations: 877-424-2449

ON LINE
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/phoenix/phxff/hoteldetail
(Under Rate Preference: Select the “Group Rate” button and enter “P7C” then press “Enter” before continuing.)

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]


Hard Copy Getting Started in Amateur Satellites Now Available

The hard copy edition of AMSAT’s completely updated Getting Started With Amateur Satellites is back in stock! This is the complete guide to get you working the amateur satellites including tracking applications, choosing an antenna, radio selection, and step-by-step operating instructions for the FM, SSB, and digital satellites. This book is for the beginner through the veteran satellite operator. In addition to practical tips and tricks, the book includes operating techniques so that you sound like an experienced operator.

The chapters include:

  • Introduction to Satellites
  • Satellite Basics
  • Locating Amateur Satellites
  • Your Antenna System
  • Your Radio System
  • Operating the FM Satellites
  • Operating the SSB/CW Satellites
  • Receiving Satellite Digital Data
  • Operating the Digital Satellites
  • International Space Station
  • Reference Material
  • Upgrading Your Amateur Satellite Station

This completely updated version is spiral-bound so it lays flat for easy reading The book is printed in full color and is 128 pages.

Order your copy at https://www.amsat.org/product/getting-started-with-amateur-satellites-hard-copy/.
Sorry, U.S. mailing addresses only.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]


Your 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coin Is Waiting!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox-Plus.

2025 PC Coin Set

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

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


Bankston Introduces 2025 Hamvention AMSAT Forum

AMSAT President Robert Bankston greeted attendees of the Hamvention Saturday, May 17, 2025 AMSAT Forum, kicking off the session which included short presentations by several AMSAT Engineering leaders.

Bankston explained that the organization was officially formed in 1969 saying, “We’ve been keeping Amateur Radio in space for more than 50 years starting with OSCAR 1 in 1961.” OSCAR-1 was launched on December 12, 1961 as a secondary payload on the Thor-Agena rocket with a US Air Force mission. OSCAR-1 was the first satellite ever to be deployed as a secondary payload from a launch vehicle.

“The bureaucratic efforts required to secure permission to launch OSCAR-1 greatly exceeded the effort required to build the satellite. It established the precedent for all subsequent secondary payload launches for the next five decades.”

“Speaking of the fun of being a part of AMSAT,” Bankston said, “Our primary goal is to have Amateur Radio available in space for you to operate with. And if you haven’t done it before, it’s a blast. You’re chasing that little chunk of radio, flying through space at 17,000 miles an hour and trying to keep up with it, whether it be by hand or with automated azimuth and elevation tracking antennas. Accomplishing that is great stuff.”

Bankston told the audience that even more than operating via satellite communications, many AMSAT members get the opportunity to design and build a satellite that goes up into space. “AMSAT has a lot to offer to everybody. We are looking forward to enhanced relationships with school-aged students and their teachers via our new Youth Initiative which includes online self-learning.

“Currently AMSAT has about 4,000 members, the majority of whom are in the United States. AMSAT members also are in some 53 countries. There are other AMSAT organizations around the world, in such countries as the UK, Spain, Germany, Japan, Brazil and many others.

“AMSAT shares a strategic relationship with the U.S. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) organization. That group facilitates worldwide space-oriented education programs primarily in middle and high schools. Student activities in the ARISS program culminate with a capstone of a live question and answer session via Amateur Radio with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS). More than 100 astronauts have obtained and use an Amateur Radio license issued by their home country to legally transmit via radios installed on the ISS.”

The forum session provided an update on current activities. Bankston said, “the most important part of today’s update is what our AMSAT engineers are working on.” The lineup of engineering professionals who presented talks began with Jerry Buxton, AMSAT VP of Engineering and his team. Buxton spoke about the importance of AMSAT’s volunteer engineers and an overview of current AMSAT projects.

[ANS thank Robert Bankston, AMSAT President for the above information.]


Burns Fisher – The Legacy of AMSAT Flight Software

Note; Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Senior Software Engineer spoke at the 2025 Hamvention AMSAT Forum about his involvement in the development of flight software for AMSAT satellites and progress to date. His non-technical presentation helped attendees understand the scope of AMSAT software advancements during the past 15 years. This is Par 1 of a 2 Part series.

“I began working on Fox-1 software during 2010. The Fox-1 series of cubesats progressed from A through B, C, D and E. Software for each new satellite is based on that original Fox-1A software, including the five FOX-1 satellites as well as those flown by University of Washington and University of Maine. This is because we make AMSAT radios and processors available to universities so our software is used to control the AMSAT boards.

“Fox-1A was launched in 2015. Since then we’ve refined, added to and reused the same fundamental programs, although each satellite features different capabilities and many other individual program refinements. Specific variations include satellite bus data configurations connecting new subsystems or improved modules within the flight computer. We almost always discover a few bugs in the current satellite which we try to fix in the next one.

“Commands transmitted from a ground station control the Amateur Radio repeater or transponder receive and transmit functions as well as other satellite functions. These commands use encryption to securely authenticate that commands are coming from an AMSAT ground station. Controlling devices like satellites is the only time that encryption is allowed in Amateur Radio.

“In addition, the flight software collects telemetry data from various systems in the satellite, combines it and transmits it back to earth so we can read and use the data to monitor our satellites and the investigators who provided science experiments can get their results.”

“FoxTelem Software for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms can demodulate, store and analyze telemetry signals from AMSAT cubesats. FoxTelem users, who do not have to be licensed amateurs can upload received telemetry data to the AMSAT server so that it can be used by scientists and researchers whose experiments fly AMSAT satellites as well as by AMSAT engineers monitoring the health of the spacecraft.” (More details or download here: https://www.amsat.org/foxtelem-software-for-windows-mac-linux/)

Burns continued, “If you want to know what the flight software does, the easiest way to see this is to look at the tasks within it. You can think of tasks as being like applications on your phone. This chart shows the list of current flight software tasks.

“One flight task example is a diagnostic task for debugging and testing systems on the bench. Another software task controls experiments such as the Vanderbilt University radiation experiment and the Virginia Tech camera.

The yellow boxes represent two new tasks coordinating multiple processors, and controlling a new electrical bus called CAN. GOLF flight software is still based on the original Fox-1 software but is more complicated and required an enormous amount of additional programming.

“GOLF satellites have a Controller Area Network bus (CAN bus) designed to enable efficient communication between processors and other devices. The CAN bus concept originated in the Automotive Industry to connect automotive ECUs (Electronic Control Units). Its purpose is to reduce the complexity and cost of electrical wiring in automobiles by multiplexing different kinds of data. Multiplexing combines multiple input signals into a single output signal for transmission over a shared channel. There are multiple processors on GOLF.”

While Fox satellites are all in Low Earth Orbits between approximately 500 km and 800 km altitudes, Burns needs to test newly added functions required for navigation and propulsion, part of AMSAT’s strategic goals involving highly elliptical orbits for wide access satellite missions.

(Note: Part 2 of this series will appear in next week’s ANS Weekly Bulletin.)

[ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Senior Software Engineer 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/


SkyRoof – A Specialized Satellite Tracking Program for SDR’s

SkyRoof , developed by Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA, is a satellite tracking and radio control program that focuses on software design radio (SDR) operation. The program supports SDR-based SSB/CW/FM receivers with RIT and Doppler tracking. Frequency tuning is done visually with a mouse.

It provides detailed information about all satellites that transmit in the ham bands while all satellite traces on the waterfall are labeled with satellite names, and the boundaries of the transponder segments. 

SkyRoof provides the usual pass prediction for selected satellites and visual representation of the current satellite position and future passes in several formats including Sky View – the view of the sky from your location; Earth View – the view of the Earth from the satellite; Time Line – the satellite passes on the time scale; and Pass List – the details of the predicted passes. The SDR-based waterfall display covers the whole satellite segments on the VHF and UHF bands, with zoom and pan.

The program supplies audio and I/Q output to external programs via a virtual audio cable (VAC). CAT control of an external transceiver is also said to be provided along with antenna rotator control.

SkyRoof is currently available only for MS Windows. It is open source and can be downloaded for free at https://ve3nea.github.io/SkyRoof/index.html.

[ANS thanks Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA for the above information.]


VUCC Satellite Standing June 2025

Here is the VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for May 01, 2025 to June 01, 2025.


Call

May
June
DL2GRC 1501 1650
AA5PK 1500 1524
OZ9AAR 1100 1300
EA2AA 1050 1085
JN2QCV 1016 1075
W8LR 900 905
AA8CH 876 901
WD9EWK-(DM43) 774 779
AF5CC 651 656
RA3S 107 654
KA9CFD 500 608
AD2DD 517 604
HB9GWJ 575 602
AB5SS 411 549
HC2FG 413 477
K3HPA 350 375
N4QWF 336 350
WD9EWK-(DM41) 229 235
SV8CKM 140 215
WD9EWK-(DM31) 206 210
N6UTC-(DM15) 150 177
DH0GSU 156 170
OH3DP New 150
OE6JWD New 101
WB5TX New 101
W6OR New 100

Congratulations to the new VUCC Satellite holders!
OH3DP
OE6JWD
WB5TX
W6OR

OH3DP is first VUCC Satellite holder from Finland and KP10.
OE6JWD is first VUCC Satellite holder from JN77.

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


DXCC Satellite Standing June 2025

Here is the DXCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for
May 01, 2025 to June 01, 2025.


Call

May
June
DL2GRC    184    188   
F4BKV    171    187   
SA5IKN    100    184   
OZ9AAR    153    173   
HB9RYZ    157    163   
DL6GBM    157    160   
YO9HP    131    157   
IK1IYU    146    153   
IK5CBE    141    143   
TF1A    112    113   
W8LR    108    112   
YL2GC    New    101   

Congratulations to the new DXCC Satellite holder!
YL2GC

YL2GC is first DXCC Satellite holder from Latvia and KO26.

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ 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-NA TLE Distribution for June 13, 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/.

The following satellite has been removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

NOAA-18 NORAD Cat ID 28654 Decommissioned 1740 UTC 06/06/2025

[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

Completed Contacts

Aznakaevo students, Aznakaevo, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via RC4P
The ISS callsign was RSØISS.
The crewmember was Sergey Ryzhikov.
The ARISS mentor was RV3DR.
Contact was successful Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 09:07 UTC.

Mountain Creek State High School, Mountain Creek, Queensland, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign was OR4ISS.
The crewmember was Takaya Onishi, KF5LKS.
The ARISS mentor was VK4KHZ.
Contact was successful Monday, June 9, 2025 at 08:10 UTC.

Upcoming Contacts

Axiom 4 group 3 telebridge via ON4ISS
Rzeszow University of Technology, Rzeszow Poland.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, SQ7AS.
The ARISS mentor is K4RGK.
Contact is go for Tuesday.June 17, 2025 at 09:39 UTC.

Axiom 4 group 4 telebridge via ON4ISS
University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, SQ7AS.
The ARISS mentor is K4RGK.
Contact is go for Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 08:50 UTC.

Axiom 4 group 1 telebridge via IK1SLD
Hungarian Scout Association, Budapest, Hungary.
Debrecen – Bánki Reformed Primary School, Technical College and Vocational Training School, Debrecen, Hungary
Mezoberényi Petofi Sándor Evangélikus Gimnázium, Kollégium és Általános Iskola, Mezöberény, Hungary
Budapesti Muszaki Szakképzési Centrum Puskás Tivadar Távközlési és Informatikai Technikum, Puskás Radio Amateur Club – HA5KHC, HA5KBF, Budapest, Hungary.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be TBD.
The scheduled crewmember is Tibor Kapu, HA5TRO.
The ARISS mentor is ON6TI.
Contact is go for Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 10:28 UTC.

Axiom 4 group 2 telebridge via IK1SLD
MOBILIS Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft., Gyor, Hungary
Széchenyi István University of Gyor – SZESAT, Gyor, Hungary.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Tibor Kapu, HA5TRO.
The ARISS mentor is ON6TI.
Contact is go for Thursday, June 19, 2025 at 09:39 UTC.

Youth On The Air 2025, Denver, Colorado, direct via WØY
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Nichole Ayers, KJ5GWI.
The ARISS mentor is N7GZT.
Contact is go for: Thursday, June 19, 2025 at 17:25 UTC.
Watch for Livestream at https://youtube.com/live/I7JFXlzjrKc?feature=share

Axiom 4 group 5 telebridge via ON4ISS
UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Dept. of Space, Govt. of India, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Shubhanshu Shukla, VU2TNI.
The ARISS mentor is AA6TB.
Contact is go for Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 08:01 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.]


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 News Logo

June 21, 2025
Rochester Amateur Radio Association Hamfest 2025
Barnard Fire Field
410 Maiden Lane Rochester, NY 14616
KB2YSI

August 21-24, 2025
Northeast HamXposition (HamX) & New England ARRL Convention
Best Western Royal Plaza & Trade Center
181 Boston Post Road W
Marlborough, MA 01752
http://www.HamX.org
W1EME, WD4ASW, WB1FJ

September 6, 2025
Greater Louisville Hamfest
Paroquet Springs Conference Centre
395 Paroquet Springs Drive
Shepherdsville, KY 40165
W4FCL

October 16 – 19, 2025
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting and 43rd Annual AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting
Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North
1515 North 44th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85008
Details at https://www.amsat.org/2025-symposium/

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


Satellite Shorts From All Over

    • From September 19-21, 2025, the Bochum radome will once again be dedicated to satellite and space research. In cooperation with the Bochum Observatory, AMSAT-Deutschland e.V. is offering a varied and informative program aimed at AMSAT members and all space enthusiasts. The focus is on current developments and future prospects for national and international amateur radio satellites and other space projects. Lectures, presentations and exciting discussions will provide participants with valuable insights into the latest technologies, missions and research projects in space travel. As was the case last year, the Space Days begin on Friday with a general “come together” and end on Sunday with the General Assembly. The exact schedule and further plans here on the website as soon as possible. Anyone interested in giving a presentation is welcome to contact them in advance at [email protected].

    • The SpaceX launch of four private astronauts has been delayed again. The Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) had been scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast on Wednesday morning, June 11, but a propellant leak in the Falcon 9 booster nixed that plan. And now, another leak — this one in a leaky module at Ax-4’s destination, the ISS — has further postponed the liftoff indefinitely. This is the first flight for the Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission. This will be the second flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched a Starlink mission. [ANS thanks SpaceX.com 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 is Frank Karnauskas, N1UW.
f.karnauskas [at] amsat [dot] org

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