AMSAT

Booth at the Dayton Hamvention Amateur Radio Show

AMSAT ( Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation , in German about " Amateurfunksatelliten -Vereinigung") is an association of radio amateurs who pursue the goal of operating space satellites . The organization, founded in 1969, has its German headquarters in Bochum .

Structure and goals

There are several AMSAT organizations around the world. The first was founded in the United States in 1969 to encourage radio amateurs to participate in space exploration and communication. AMSAT thus continued the efforts of the OSCAR project, which began the first amateur radio satellite OSCAR 1 in 1961 .

The space projects are carried out in global cooperation with the AMSAT organizations and universities .

Names of the phases

AMSAT introduced the five phases to differentiate between the mission objectives . Each phase represents a new milestone in the development of amateur radio satellites. The five phases are:

Phase 1 - Construction of a simple satellite without solar cells to test the technology and reach orbit.
Phase 2 - Construction of a satellite with solar cells and positioning in low earth orbit ( LEO ).
Phase 3 - construction of a satellite and positioning in a highly elliptical earth orbit. A phase 3 satellite is designed for multi-year use. Usually the satellite is lifted from a geostationary transfer orbit ( GTO ) to its final orbit with its own drive.
Phase 4 - building a satellite and positioning it in a geosynchronous orbit (GSO) or even geostationary orbit (GEO).
Stage 5 - Construction of a spacecraft that will be sent to Earth's moon , Mars, or any other destination within the inner solar system .

The individual satellites that belong to a phase are provided with identification letters so that the project names e.g. B. Phase-3-D (P3D, fourth satellite of phase 3) or Phase-5-A (P5A, first spacecraft of phase 5). Phases 1 to 4 satellites belong to the group of OSCAR satellites because of their earth orbit; those from phase 5, because they leave orbit, are not included.

AMSAT Germany

The AMSAT Germany eV, shortly AMSAT-DL is a 1974 in Marburg , was established as a non-profit recognized association .

According to its own information, the association currently has around 1200 members (as of January 2010).

The annual fee is 120 euros or a minimum of 90 euros. There are discounts for young members in training, students as well as the severely disabled and members with low incomes on request. The contribution is then 30 euros per year.

The aim of AMSAT-Germany is essentially the development, construction and operation of amateur radio satellites, telecommunications and space science research with the participation of the amateur radio service and the publication of the research results to promote science and research .

In addition, the association publishes the specialist journal AMSAT-DL Journal , supports it in the procurement of materials for the implementation of the amateur radio service via satellites , sells themed books and software and conducts conferences .

Satellites, in whose development and construction AMSAT-DL played a major role

satellite	begin	The End	lifespan
AMSAT phase 3-A	May 23, 1980	False start	0
AMSAT- OSCAR 10	June 16, 1983	2002	19 years
AMSAT- OSCAR 13	June 15, 1988	December 1996	8 years
AMSAT-OSCAR 21	January 29, 1991	December 12, 1994	3 years
AMSAT- OSCAR 40 (*)	November 16, 2000	January 27, 2004	3 years
AMSAT P4-A	15th November 2018

(*) The name during the planning phase was AMSAT PHASE 3D

AMSAT-Germany has been involved in nine successful missions since 1980.

Current projects

In January 2009, Phase 3 Express ( P3E ) was scheduled to go into earth orbit. This satellite is considered a prototype for the Phase 5-A ( P5A ) spacecraft , which is scheduled to launch to Mars in 2018.

In March 2014 it was announced that the Qatari satellite Es'hail-2 would bring an amateur radio relay station to a geostationary position, a joint project of the Qatari Amateur Radio Association QARS, the Qatar Satellite Company and the AMSAT-DL. Two transponders should enable radio amateurs from Brazil to Europe to India to establish radio links with one another. The start took place on November 15, 2018, the planned position is 25.5 degrees east. The uplink will be in the 2.400 to 2.450 GHz range and the downlink in the 10.450 to 10.500 GHz range within the respective amateur radio assignments.

Web links

www.amsat-dl.org - AMSAT-Germany eV
Directory of AMSAT Organizations Worldwide - AMSAT USA

Individual evidence

↑ Imprint of amsat-dl.org. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
↑ AMSAT-DL Who are we? Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
↑ AMSAT-DL: membership fee. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
↑ AMSAT-DL: Overview of all amateur radio satellites. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
↑ Es'hail-2. Es'hailSat Qatar Satellite Company, accessed September 5, 2016 .

[1] Imprint of amsat-dl.org. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .

[2] AMSAT-DL Who are we? Retrieved January 5, 2019 .

[3] AMSAT-DL: membership fee. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .

[4] AMSAT-DL: Overview of all amateur radio satellites. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .

[5] Es'hail-2. Es'hailSat Qatar Satellite Company, accessed September 5, 2016 .