[amsat-bb] Re: [SPAM] Six Amateur Radio Satellites to Launch inMarch

[JoAnne Maenpaa]

Hello David,

>   Sadly I see that with the exception of Delfi, everything 
> else is digital. Surely it is imperative that we get more 
> easy sats up there for the newbies to cut their teeth on and 
> then progress! With the loss of FO-29 to virtually everyone 
> out of the JA footprint, its becoming a specialised hobby - 
> there is a need to get back to basics here I would have thought!

At the Symposium in Pittsburgh and in recent Journal articles there has been
discussion of the new reality of civilian spaceflight.  Its also mentioned
at http://www.amsat.org in the President's Report.  In summary this is what
the report says:

1) There is excess launch capacity on most lifters but their owners
   (ie: primary mission) expects to be paid for it.

2) These costs are not trivial.  The price tag is in the millions
   which amateur radio is not able to raise on its own.

3) To get funding you need to present your plans for a complete
   mission.  Student research, scientific instruments stand a better
   chance of being funded as compared to 'flying a radio so a bunch
   of guys can talk with each other'.

4) For AMSAT to get funding our mission must also excite potential
   funding sources.  By proposing a mission that revolutionizes
   amateur emergency communication or introduces TDRSS-like capability
   for ARISS amateur radio projects are more likely to be funded as 
   well.  That's how we get our next transponders into orbit.

The cubesat webpages are not about neat radios.  The radio is a subsystem.
They have a mission to get funded.  In other words, they were not written
for us but for the professors who grade them and for those who control the
grant monies.

--
73 de JoAnne K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat.org