AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) with headquarters at Washington, D.C. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate (command) satellites carrying amateur radio payloads, including the OSCAR series of satellites. Other informally affiliated national organizations exist, such as AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL) and AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT).
HAMSAT also known as HAMSAT INDIA, VU2SAT and VO-52 is a microsatellite weighing 42.5 kilograms (93.7 lb), providing amateur radio satellite communications services for Indian and international amateur radio operators. This satellite carries the in-orbit designation of VO-52, and is an OSCAR series satellite.
CUTE-1.7 + APD or CO-56 (Cubesat-Oscar-56) or just OSCAR 56 was an amateur radio satellite in the form of a double CubeSat. The satellite used commercial off-the-shelf components extensively, in particular, it used the Hitachi NPD-20JWL PDA as a control computer, and it used a USB hub for sensor communications. At the end of its mission, the satellite was supposed to deploy an electrodynamic tether to help it deorbit. The satellite failed early into its mission, so the electodynamic tether experiment probably did not happen. It was launched on February 21, 2006 on board a Japanese launcher M-V.
AMSAT-OSCAR 7, or AO-7, is the second Phase 2 amateur radio satellite constructed by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation or AMSAT. It was launched into Low Earth Orbit on November 15, 1974 and remained operational until a battery failure in 1981. Then after 21 years of apparent silence, the satellite was heard again on June 21, 2002 – 27 years after launch. At that time the public learned that the satellite had remained intermittently functional and was used surreptitiously for communication by the anticommunist opposition Fighting Solidarity during the martial law in Poland.
SSETI Express was the first spacecraft to be designed and built by European students and was launched by the European Space Agency. SSETI Express is a small spacecraft, similar in size and shape to a washing machine. On board the student-built spacecraft were three CubeSat picosatellites, extremely small satellites weighing around one kg each. These were deployed one hour and forty minutes after launch. Twenty-one university groups, working from locations spread across Europe and with very different cultural backgrounds, worked together via the internet to jointly create the satellite. The expected lifetime of the mission was planned to be 2 months. SSETI Express encountered an unusually fast mission development: less than 18 months from kick-off in January 2004 to flight-readiness.
AMSAT-OSCAR 16, also known as AO-16 and PACSAT, is the in-orbit name designation of an amateur radio satellite of the OSCAR series. It was built by AMSAT and was launched on 22 January 1990 from Kourou, French Guiana on an Ariane 4 launch vehicle. It is in sun synchronous low Earth orbit.
An amateur radio satellite is an artificial satellite built and used by amateur radio operators. It forms part of the Amateur-satellite service. These satellites use amateur radio frequency allocations to facilitate communication between amateur radio stations.
ESTCube-1 is the first Estonian satellite and first satellite in the world to attempt to use an electric solar wind sail (E-sail). It was launched on 7 May 2013 aboard Vega VV02 carrier rocket and successfully deployed into orbit. The CubeSat standard for nanosatellites was followed during the engineering of ESTCube-1, resulting in a 10×10×11.35 cm cube, with a volume of 1 liter and a mass of 1.048 kg.
TurkSat-3USat is a Turkish communications nanosatellite developed by the Space Systems Design and Test Laboratory and Radio Frequency Electronics Laboratory of Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in collaboration with the Türksat company along with Turkish Amateur Satellite Technology Organization (TAMSAT). It was launched on 26 April 2013.
LituanicaSAT-1 was one of the first two Lithuanian satellites. It was launched along with the second Cygnus spacecraft and 28 Flock-1 CubeSats aboard an Antares 120 carrier rocket flying from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island to the International Space Station. The launch was scheduled to occur in December 2013, but later was rescheduled to 9 January 2014 and occurred then. The satellite was broadcasting greetings of Lithuanian president, Mrs. Dalia Grybauskaitė. The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station via the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer on February 28, 2014. All LituanicaSAT-1 subsystems have been turned on, tested and proved to be working properly. The mission is considered a complete success by its team of engineers. The mission ended upon the reentry and disintegration of the satellite on July 28, 2014.
iCube-1 is a miniaturised satellite built by the Institute of Space Technology in Pakistan, with an objective to provide a wide range of future experiments in the domain of imaging, microgravity, biology, nanotechnology, space dynamics, chemistry, space physics and various other fields. It can also provide a testbed for developing satellite constellations for specific applications.
Es'hail 2 is a Qatari satellite, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 15, 2018. Es'hail 2 was built by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric company, and will operate at 26° East longitude along a geostationary orbit to provide direct-to-home television services in the Middle East and North Africa region. The satellite will feature 24 Ku-band and 11 Ka-band transponders to provide direct broadcasting services for television, government and commercial content distribution. In addition to commercial services, the payload of Es'hail 2 includes a linear transponder with a bandwidth of 500 kHz and 8MHz for the amateur radio satellite service, with uplink on 2.4 GHz and downlink on 10.45 GHz.
Fox-1D, AO-92 or AMSAT OSCAR 92 is an American amateur radio satellite. Fox-1D is a 1U CubeSat developed and built by AMSAT-NA. Fox-1D carries a single-channel transponder for mode U/V in FM. Fox-1D has an L-band converter, which allows the FM transponder to be switched on an uplink in the 23 centimetres (9.1 in) band.
Fox-1B, AO-91 or AMSAT OSCAR 91 is an United States amateur radio satellite. It is a 1U Cubesat, was built by the AMSAT-NA and carries a single-channel transponder for FM radio. The satellite has a whip antenna for the 70 cm and 23 cm bands (uplink), and a second antenna for the 2 m band (downlink). Fox-1B is the second amateur radio satellite of the Fox series of AMSAT North America.
Fox-1A, AO-85 or AMSAT OSCAR 85 is an American amateur radio satellite. It is a 1U Cubesat, was built by the AMSAT-NA and carries a single-channel transponder for FM radio. The satellite has one rod antenna each for the 70 centimetres (28 in) and 2 metres bands. To enable a satellite launch under NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program, the satellite continues to carry a Penn State University student experiment.
ParkinsonSAT, PSat or Naval Academy OSCAR 84, is a U.S. technology demonstration satellite and an amateur radio satellite for Packet Radio. It was built at the U.S. Naval Academy and was planned as a double satellite. The name ParkinsonSAT was chosen in honor of Bradford Parkinson, the father of the GPS system. After successful launch, the satellite was assigned the OSCAR number 84.
BRICSat-2, or USNAP1, is an experimental amateur radio satellite from the United States Naval Academy that was developed in collaboration with George Washington University. BRICSat-2 is the successor to BRICSat-P. AMSAT North America's OSCAR number administrator assigned number 103 to this satellite; in the amateur radio community it is therefore also called Navy-OSCAR 103, short NO-103.
PSAT-2 is an experimental amateur radio satellite from the U.S. Naval Academy, which was developed in collaboration with the Technical University of Brno in Brno, Czech Republic. AMSAT North America's OSCAR number administrator assigned number 104 to this satellite; in the amateur radio community it is therefore also called Navy-OSCAR 104, short NO-104.
OSCAR 8 is an American amateur radio satellite. It was developed and built by radio amateurs of the AMSAT and launched on March 5, 1978 as a secondary payload together with the earth observation satellite Landsat 3 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States.
Fox-1E, AO-109, Evolution or AMSAT OSCAR 109 is an American amateur radio satellite. It is a 1U Cubesat, was built by the AMSAT-NA and carries a single-channel transponder for FM radio. Fox-1E is the fifth amateur radio satellite of the Fox series of AMSAT North America.
