AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-131

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites

The news feed on http://www amsat org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor@amsat org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

• 2019 Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal on launch amsat org
• Call for Nominations - 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election
• New Chinese Amateur Satellites Expected to Launch in September
• Cubesat Developers Workshop Presentations Available
• Visual Observations Of RS-44 Underway
• Hack-a-Sat Call for Participation
• NASA TV To Air Cygnus Departure From Space Station
• Online Amateur Radio Satellite Talk on Zoom
• Satellite Distance Records Set
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131 01 ANS-131 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131 01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD DATE 2020-May-10 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131 01

2019 Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal on launch amsat org

AMSAT's new online member portal, launch amsat org, is up and running All AMSAT members must log in and update their contact information to ensure continued, uniterrupted service Full instructions for getting logged in are in the March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal, avail- able for free download on amsat org and launch amsat org There is also separate instructions on each site

Those interested in joining AMSAT can create an account, using the Join link on launch amsat org

IMPORTANT UPDATE: AMSAT's Member Portal not only puts you in charge of your member account but gives you exclusive access to member-only content Want to read back issues of The AMSAT Journal, in full color? We just posted all 2019 issues, plus the first two issues of 2020 We will continue to work on uploading prior years, so check back often

Log in today!

(ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-Member Services for the above information)

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     Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office
is closed until further notice
 For details, please visit

https://www amsat org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

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Call for Nominations - 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election

AMSAT solicits nominations for the 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors election, to be held in the third quarter of the year The seats of the following three incumbent Directors expire in 2020 and will be filled by this year's election: Tom Clark, K3IO; Mark Hammond, N8MH; and Bruce Paige, KK5DO Further, up to two Alternate Directors may be elected for one-year terms

A valid nomination for Director must be written and requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT member Written nominations, with the nominee’s name, call sign, and contact information, as well as the nominators' names, call signs, and contact information, should be sent to the AMSAT Secretary:

Brennan Price, N4QX 300 Locust St SE, Unit E Vienna VA 22180-4869 brennanprice at verizon net

A copy should be sent to AMSAT Manager, Martha Saragovitz, at martha at amsat org

The AMSAT bylaws require that the nomination be written and in the form specified by the Secretary In light of the ongoing pandemic and the resulting closure of the physical office, the Secretary has elected to accept written nomination materials in electronic form, including e-mail or electronic image of a paper document Fax trans- missions cannot be accepted due to the closure of the office

No matter what means are used, petitions MUST be received by the Secretary no later than June 15th The Secretary will verify the qual- ifications of candidates and nominating members or Member Societies as petitions are received, and will notify candidates whether their nom- inations are in order by the end of June

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

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New Chinese Amateur Satellites Expected to Launch in September

Two new Chinese amateur radio satellites are now expected to launch on September 15, 2020 The first of these satellites, CAS-7A, is a 27 kg microsat (750 mm x 650 mm x 260 mm) with three-axis stabilization and several transponders The transponders include a 15m to 10m linear transponder (H/t), a 15m to 70cm linear transponder (H/u), and a 2m to 70cm linear transponder(V/u) The satellite also includes a 2m to 70cm (V/u) FM transponder Several beacons and data downlinks are also feat- ured, CW beacons on 10m and 70cm, 4 8k or 9 6k GMSK telemetry on 70cm, and a 1 Mbps GMSK image data downlink on 3cm for the on board camera IARU coordinated frequencies for the uplinks and downlinks are listed below

This launch is also expected to carry CAS-7C, a 2U CubeSat with a V/u linear transponder and a CW beacon Frequencies for CAS-7C have not been coordinated by the IARU at the time of this writing CAS-7C will also deploy a 1 mm diameter 1080 meter long carbon fiber rope

CAS-7A and CAS-7C will launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center into a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98 degrees

Frequencies:

CAS-7A H/t Linear Transponder Uplink - 21 245MHz through 21 275 MHz Downlink - 29 435MHz through 29 465 MHz CW Beacon 29 425 MHz

CAS-7A H/u Linear Transponder Uplink - 21 3125 MHz through 21 3275 MHz Downlink - 435 3575 MHz through 435 3725 MHz CW Beacon 435 430MHz

CAS-7A V/u Linear Transponder Uplink - 145 865 MHz through 145 895 MHz Downlink - 435 385 MHz through 435 415 MHz CW Beacon 435 430MHz

CAS-7A V/u FM Transponder Uplink 145 950 MHz Downlink 435 455 MHz

4 8k / 9 6k GMSK telemetry downlink - 435 480 MHz 1 Mbps GMSK image data downlink - 10460 00 MHz

[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]

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Cubesat Developers Workshop Presentations Available

Although we are not able to come together in San Luis Obispo for the CubeSat Developers Workshop today, we are excited to share some of the presentations that would have taken place with you online Find the slide decks for these presentations on our archive http://mstl atl calpoly edu/~workshop/archive/ as well as videos on our YouTube channel https://www youtube com/channel/UCENz0fNHsDR8Kz3jM6C_VWw/featured

You will also be able to find all of our previous Workshop presentations in NASA's Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) https://www nasa gov/smallsat-institute We are excited to have our archives integrated into S3VI and hope you can use this tool to further your research and involvement with CubeSat

If you were selected to present your abstract at this year's Workshop and would still like your presentation to be included in our archive, email us at cubesat-workshop@calpoly edu cubesat-workshop@calpoly.edu

We also want to share some of our CDW Zoom backgrounds with you Feel free to download and use them in your next meeting!

We look forward to welcoming you all back to San Luis Obispo from April 27-29, 2021 for the next CubeSat Developers Workshop We will continue to announce new deadlines and registration information via email and on our website https://www cubesat org/workshop-information as we continue to plan for 2021 Be sure to join the CubeSat Workshop mailing list http://www cubesat org/mailinglist/ for future announcements

We hope you continue working together (from home) to advance CubeSats

[ANS thanks JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information]

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 Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store
 When you purchase through
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Visual Observations Of RS-44 Underway

Visual observations of the payload and attached Briz-KM rocket body made whilst the object has been flying over the UK at night, indica- ted a rotation period of 19 seconds Optically with binoculars, it appeared between magnitude +5 to invisible in hazy moonlit skies, on near zenithal transits No flashes nor glints were observed, which could indicate the stack is in a slow roll along the longitudinal axis, rather than a tumbling motion

On a radio aspect, it would appear the beacon signals are stronger as the payload approaches, declining thereafter upon passing TCA Assuming RS-44 is mounted to the front and that some aerials have deployed, then this would account for the phenomenon, as receding away from the station would have the aerials blocked by the Briz rocket body - however, I have not seen any information released as to the physical condition of RS-44 It would be useful for the transmit- ters to remain on, to monitor over the long term if the nutation rate slows over time The CW beacon was timed at 20 seconds between trans- mission, which fits with the optical work, but this may well just be coincidental as to how the beacon is programmed

Later radio monitoring indicates the beacon repetition is 15-16 sec- onds on the callsign being transmitted Whether this ties in with hopefully future optical work to see if the spin rate has slowed to the same, or we have a differential - we wait and see!

[ANS thanks Max White, M0VNG, for the above information]

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Hack-a-Sat Call for Participation

I've put out the call for participation for the Hack-a-Sat competition in the past, and would like to bring you all up to date on the devel- opments and opportunities that have developed since

The website is here: https://www hackasat com/

Hack-a-Sat is an activity that was scheduled to happen at the in-per- son DEFCON event

As of today, yes, it's true DEFCON has been cancelled

Those of you that have volunteered at Ham Radio Village in the past are familiar with the event For those of you that are not, it's a long-running hacking and cybersecurity event that has enthusiastical- ly adopted everything RF and amateur radio

The United States Air Force, in conjunction with the Defense Digital Service, organized this year’s Space Security Challenge, called Hack- A-Sat This challenge asks hackers from around the world to focus their skills and creativity on solving cybersecurity challenges on space systems This competition is going to be held! It's now a vir- tual event

Security in the amateur radio sense of the word is fundamentally dif- ferent from commercial and military applications We have an advan- tage here, mainly due to the enormous leverage we have due to our con- text being completely different from what the Air Force and commercial interests assume This is, essentially, a diversity advantage

If you want to participate on an experienced Capture The Flag (CTF) team, then I am here to extend an invitation Anyone that reads through the rules and can afford to spend some time during the event is invited to apply to join Vaporsec This is a team that has a major- ity of information security professionals There are some satellite industry people, some amateur involvement, and I'd like to make sure that anyone interested in competing from AMSAT-BB gets a chance to join a competitive team

The benefits to amateur radio are primarily technical, with policy and security a close second The Air Force has some agendas here in terms of improving satellite security Exposure to the challenges alone is a an excellent opportunity to learn more about modern satellite technol- ogy and what a significant player in space wants to find out more about Don't assume that that the challenges in the competition are going to be "too hard " What is trivial for one viewpoint is unsolv- able for another

I'll be writing about the event and what we learned when it is over, so this sort of knowledge will not be secret However, there is no replacement for participation, and you could very well have the prac- tical knowledge, gained from operating real satellites, that wins the competition As you can see from the website, there is some real money involved and opportunities for technical writing

Let me know at w5nyv@arrl net if you would like to talk more about joining a CTF team for this really neat and unique event Know someone that you think should participate? Please forward to them

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, AMSAT Board Member for the above information]

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NASA TV To Air Cygnus Departure From Space Station

Nearly three months after delivering several tons of supplies and sci- entific experiments to the International Space Station, Northrup Grum- man’s unpiloted Cygnus cargo craft is scheduled to depart the Inter- national Space Station on Monday, May 11

Live coverage of the spacecraft’s release will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 11:45 a m EDT, with release scheduled for noon

Dubbed the “SS Robert H Lawrence,” Cygnus arrived at the station on February 18 Within 24 hours of its release, Cygnus will begin its secondary mission, hosting the Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment – IV (Saffire-IV), which provides an environment to safely study fire in microgravity It also will deploy a series of payloads Northrop Grum- man flight controllers in Dulles, Virginia, will initiate Cygnus’ de- orbit to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere Monday, May 25

More information on Cygnus’ mission and the International Space Sta- tion can be found at: http://www nasa gov/station

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

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Online Amateur Radio Satellite Talk on Zoom

Robin Moseley, G1MHU, will give a talk on Zoom titled “Introduction to amateur satellites, meteor scatter, EME and ISS” on Wednesday, May 13, at 1830z

The presentation is being organised by the Denby Dales Amateur Radio Society and being on Zoom it’ll be viewable on any Tablet or Smartphone with the Zoom App or from a Windows PC or Laptop

The Zoom meeting ID is 278 609 9353 https://zoom us/j/2786099353

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

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Satellite Distance Records Set

Satellite operators are rapidly pushing towards the 7,942 km theoret- ical maximum range on RS-44 The 7,859 km record held by KI7UNJ and JA0CAW was eclipsed on 06-May-2020 at 19:00 UTC with a QSO between EA4CYQ and UA0STM, a distance of 7,894 km On 09-May-2020, this record fell again when W5CBF in Louisiana, USA worked LA7XK in Norway, a distance of 7,916 km

Another claimed DX record was also claimed on May 6 This time it was on PO-101 (Diwata2PH) EA4SG reports working R9LR at 23:03 UTC The distance between the two stations is 5,128 km

Distance records for all satellites are maintained at: https://www amsat org/satellite-distance-records/

Please email n8hm [at] amsat org if you wish to claim a new record, longer distance QSO not yet documented, or records for any other sat- ellite/transponder not yet listed Please note that if a satellite carries multiple transponders or supports multiple frequency bands, records on each transponder/band may be claimed, such as Mode A and B on AO-7 or Mode U/S, L/S, U/K, etc, on AO-40 This includes the ISS and records may be claimed for the packet digipeater and crossband re- peater, but does not include different operating modes on the same transponder (such as CW or SSB on AO-7 Mode B)

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive VP, for the above information]

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

Mitch, AD0HJ, has decided to "go check on the tree" in North Dakota He has also said he will be activating a bunch of grids: 5/20 UTC DN96/97 5/21 UTC DN78/88 5/22 UTC DN76/77 5/23 UTC DN86/87 5/24 UTC EN06/16 Details on his Twitter page, @ad0hj

Ron, AD0DX, and Doug, N6UA, are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, Texas They tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again The tentative date is Sunday May 31, 2020 They will be using the K5Z call sign More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page

Please submit any additions or corrections to ke0pbr (at) gmail com

[ANS thanks Paul Overnfor, KE0PBR, the NEW AMSAT rover page manager(!) for the above information Welcome aboard, Paul ]

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ARISS News

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145 800 MHz worldwide

Airdrie Space Science Club, Airdrie, AB, Canada, Multi-point tele- bridge via ZS6JON The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS and the scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR The contact is go for Friday 2020-05-15 15:10:28 UTC with 55 degrees over South Africa

ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general As such, we may have last minute cancella- tions or postponements of school contacts As always, ARISS will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates at the ARISS webpage: https://www ariss org/

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men- tors for the above information]

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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
        be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit

Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www amsat org/donate/

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meet- ings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events

Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have been cancelled or postponed While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon

Current schedule: No scheduled events

The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED: May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Com, Plano, TX

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

• Virgin Orbit tweets that it is celebrating a big win this week after the successful completion of a wet dress rehearsal with LauncherOne just in time for #NationalSpaceDay! Wet dress rehearsals with all commodities loaded is one of the last major events before launch (ANS thanks @Virgin_Orbit for the above information)

• A new version of the North American Overlay Mapper program: v4 0 0 0 has been released for Windows 7 and 10, with many new features The 'NAOMI' program can import ADIF logs, Cabrillo logs, and a variety of lists, and then georeference them from the latest FCC and ISED databases, and then plot North American QSOs, Grid Locators, and Counties, onto 47 maps at 1:2,000,000 scale, 2 North American over- view maps at 1:20,000,000 scale, a zoomable Online Map with a choice of map-providers, a full-screen World Map, and a Great Circle Map with a choice of 16 different backgrounds You can edit logs, check for errors, parse for counties, export data in different formats, search and browse the databases, overlay a variety of lists, export the maps for use in other applications, or to share online NAOMI is available at: https://www mapability com/ei8ic/naomi/index php (ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information)

• NASA will pay a staggering $146 million for each SLS rocket engine, with 4 needed per SLS flight These Space Shuttle main engines were intended to be reused, but SLS will throw them away Other things you could buy for $146 million: two basic Atlas V rocket launches, three Falcon 9 launches, or a fully expendable Falcon Heavy launch, with 2/3 the lift capacity at 1/20th the cost (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)

• A study has found that all 1,078 commercially-launched smallsats in the last five years experienced delays, with a median delay of 128 days The largest delay categories: 11% of delays were administra- tive, 13% were ISS manifest changes (for ISS-deployed sats), 20% were due to delays in launch vehicle development, and 40% were due to primary payload delays affecting their rideshares Full report at https://bit ly/3fuw1Mz (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)

• A satellite built by Air Force Academy cadets will launch into space May 16 aboard the X-37B, Orbital Test Vehicle sponsored by the De- partment of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and built by Boeing This is the first time a satellite built and designed by ca- dets will catch a ride into space aboard the X-37B FalconSAT-8 will carry five experimental payloads, and members of the Cadet Space Operations Squadron will operate it There was no mention of amateur radio connected with this satellite, nor has there been a request for IARU frequency coordination in the amateur radio satellite ser- vice, although previous FalconSats have had amateur radio payloads (ANS thanks U S Air Force Academy for the above information)

• When a new crew member arrives on the International Space Sta- tion, the population of humans living in space changes, of course But so, too, does the population of microbes As we have all learned in this time of Covid-19, countless types of microorganisms inhabit our bodies, inside and out, and when an astronaut arrives on the station, they bring their specific collection of microbial "hitch- hikers" with them A new study shows that the microorganisms living on surfaces inside the space station so closely resembled those on an astronaut's skin that scientists could tell when this new crew member arrived and departed, just by looking at the microbes left behind Many of the microorganisms living in and around us are harm- less or even essential for good health, but some can cause disease or damage structures in built environments https://bit ly/3dlEobi (ANS thanks spacedaily com for the above information)

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In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office

Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information

73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, Mark D Johns, K0JM

k0jm at amsat dot org

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Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA https://www amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans