Over 20 years ago, Bill Tynan wrote an Apogee View column where he discussed he possibility of AMSAT not being able to launch satellites in the future. Yet here we are with plenty of opportunities for launches and ham payloads.

Orbital debris regulations and costs already make it a much different environment and we might not have the opportunity to launch 25 kg - 150 kg satellites today or an easy path to the orbits we would like. We may find further restrictions on the size of satellites we can finance or the orbits we can go to, but with the proliferation of small launch providers, I certainly don’t see us lacking opportunities over the next 10-20 years.

Rest assured that AMSAT’s directors and officers are 100% committed to maintaining and expanding our relationships with government space agencies, the university community, the space industry, and national and international regulators to ensure that amateur radio remains in space. We’ve been there since 4 years after Sputnik was launched. Before OSCAR I, space was the exclusive domain of national governments. Amateurs opened it up and helped to democratize space. We intend to stay there.

73,

Paul, N8HM

On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 18:47 Gerald Witalec via AMSAT-BB < [email protected]> wrote:

Just curious. It seems as though it is getting difficult about placing he ham SATS dueto cost. I wonder what may happen if the cost is so prohibitive that AMSAT could possibly go by the way side. Just asking. Jerry _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb