Ed mentioned ...
My only thought is a new satellite must find a launch and launch money. MY proposal would get a ride to ISS with cargo.
One fact in today's launch environment is that a single-purposed mission goal such as 'contacts-with-a-bunch-of-ham-radio-operators' will have little chance of success.
The key element to getting AMSAT satellites launched is we need to have a strong link to NASA's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) guidelines. Could we improve upon the RF link for school contacts? When there aren't school contacts then our proposed transponder could be re-purposed for our ham activity.
From what I've read in the specifications, the software defined transponder
on ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-V is a flying prototype of an AMSAT flexible SDX (linear, FM, digital). The AMSAT package also includes power management, IHU and an interface to potentially STEM-financed experiments ... compare that to other transponders that provide an RF-only PC board.
This could be a "next-logical-step"! -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org