This is an intriguing possibility and perplexes me somewhat they (AMSAT) hasn't mentioned it, or something similar. For instance, every launch has a ballast load. Why is it that the ballast cannot be replaced with a cubesat? Why aren't commercial sats required to have a amateur band transceiver installed, as mentioned here and elsewhere, to activate when the primary mission ceases? Public utility companies and regulated companies such as AT&T help us routinely.
Of course the easy answer is 'no', but a thoughtful consideration from the people who deal with this on a daily basis might be more nuanced. It's not a technical issue, is it?
Moreover, rigging a series of sats with a transmission system that switches on in the event of catastrophic failure or switching off of the main system offers the possibility of establishing a sat network capable of vast distance datacom at no expense to the primary carrier and of great benefit to the general public and science.
Isn't it time we move to working on a deep space internet system that the commercial folks don't want to spend a lot of money on, and that we (ham folks) can help by proving-in the concept? Seems to me we can do this without a lot of expense but with the foresighted help of the commercial folks.
Dave
DM78qd // KA0SWT
If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners.-- Johnny Carson
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