Hi all amsat-bb participants,

there were a number of good concepts that were floated at the 2009 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and I highlighted the potential of using AMSAT knowledgebase and experienced hobbyists to create relevant course content for inclusion in a K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) syllabus for various standards of learning. One of the nearest examples I can give of such a similar program is the aviation-technology centric STARBASE program which is a civilian operated program affiliated and funded by the DoD, http://www.dodstarbase.com/ and of those programs, I highlighted work of a single one at the conference, http://www.starbasebeaufort.com

If you were at the conference and had any questions about my presentation, please let me know by e-mail. For others, you may wish to purchase the proceedings of the conference from Martha/Amsat at your convenience as this years proceedings is very well organized.

I was interested to know a little bit about the history of development/spread of use and launch technology available for the P-POD and Cubesat technology as discussed in http://thespacereview.com/article/1490/1. Morehead State University had a very interesting presentation given by Undergraduate students about their Space Science program http://www.moreheadstate.edu/ssc/.

This lead me to think about what the cubesat platform is good for and perhaps I could begin developing a cubesat proposal "with features" in my future research plans.

But first a few questions:

Does cubesat employ all open standards, free for use, free of any copyright -or- patents ?

Are there any alternative choices in the US ? I have heard at the conference, a few years ago AMSAT-NA was initially against cubesats, but now it is an accepted concept. Could someone provide a short history of the discussion of that period ?

What types of missions have been completed using P-POD and Cubesat type spacecraft at the current time ?

Is there an example of a cubesat with any kind of propulsion system built in and put into service ? Any future candidates ?

What are the lifetime design goals of a cubesat system, and if they deorbit in a finite time, can more than a few cubesats be deployed in various stages in the same orbital plane and orbital track ?

BTW, I am curious, is there a certain orbital plane allocation for cubesats/altitude ? Who regulates this ? Could a cubesat (small) be launched into (e.g.) a fractional degree orbit .. e.g., 45.5 degrees and separate from 45.7 degrees etc as they are very small, or are the cubesats limited to separation in orbit by whole integer degrees inclination ?

Also, with regard to the following ITU definition, can any one help me locate an current list of cubesats and their mission objectives if published on a public website ? If there is no such list readily available, what would be the best possible method to catalog the cubesat launches in order to determine compliance with these two clauses ? I am looking for more comprehensive information other than http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/cubesats.php

From: http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm#Serv

1.56 amateur service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.

1.57 amateur-satellite service: A radiocommunication service using space stations on earth satellites for the same purposes as those of the amateur service.

Regards from a radio amateur sat newbie,

Samudra, N3RDX n3rdx@amsat.org