Yes! Find a commercial GEOsat with room to support an amateur payload. Leverage commercial economics for launch and platform reliability. The commercial operator can donate (tax break) the value of the ham (STEM) capability. Maybe ham bands at 10 GHz and above. Simple bent pipe.
Enlist the help of universities with active ham clubs.
Equipment manufacturers might contribute to the program to help build an "Americas" market for GEO capable radios.
If this GEOsat capability used a hemispheric beam the coverage would be Antartica to Alaska. Wow.
73 - Paul - W2HRO
On Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 11:53 Jean Marc Momple jean.marc.momple@gmail.com wrote:
Mark,
Good point, thus piggy back some HAM transponders (same as QO-100), on a commercial GEO which will surely meet all the regulatory requirement is probably the best option. However the difficulty is to find the agreeable landlord, I guest that we should do some serious research on all GEO projects still at an early stage and contact the promoters to incorporate our transponders, I believe also AMSAT-DL having some experience could coach us about the best way to approach such project.
73
Jean Marc (3B8DU)
On Aug 12, 2022, at 7:27 PM, Mark Johns, K0JM k0jm.mark@gmail.com
wrote:
The launch costs, while significant, are beside the point. The biggest issue with HEO satellites are the regulatory challenges. AMSAT and international partners could build and get ready for launch such a satellite within a few years, just as they did with AO-10, AO-13, and AO-40. But they would not get a license to put it into orbit in the current regulatory environment. The technical and financial challenges can be met, but the licensing requirements are killing us.
Just this month, a couple of NASA's own satellites had to be scratched from a launch because they did not meet the increasingly strict de-orbiting requirements for a license to orbit. (
https://spacenews.com/nasa-cubesat-bumped-from-rideshare-launch-because-of-o... )
And right now, even stricter international regulations are under consideration.
If NASA is having trouble meeting these restrictions, you can imagine how high the bar is for a non-profit organization of amateurs. Pipe dream all you want about launch opportunities, but if you can't get the necessary permits, it's just that -- pipe dreams. -- Mark D. Johns, KØJM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd
"Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain
-- Mark D. Johns, KØJM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd
"Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain
On Fri, Aug 12, 2022 at 8:43 AM Daniel Schultz n8fgv@usa.net wrote:
Rocket Lab's definition of "sensible cost" is $10 million. That is
indeed a
bargain price for a dedicated HEO mission. Do we think that AMSAT could
raise
that amount of money in a sensible amount of time?
Dan N8FGV
------ Original Message ------ Received: Thu, 11 Aug 2022 10:28:36 PM EDT From: Wendy and Terry Osborne wandtosborne@gmail.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Phase IV satellite
With the recent success of Capstone and the Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft, it may be possible to put a transponder on a Photon mission to GEO at a sensible cost.
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