Yes. AO-24 was in a low inclination orbit. Probably a transfer orbit inclination of 2 -5 degrees. I recall the transponder output was up near 2450MHz. It was very high and had excellent coverage. I believe it failed because it went into a planned shutdown due to something like eclipse or temp etc. Unfortunately it never switched back on. While it was there it was very good. A bit low in the sky if you lived above or below 60N or 60S but nice and easy to track. Like AO-40 it was always in the southern sky from here. When we talk about 10 million to launch it's worth remembering that the approach that has shrunk usable satellites to 1-3U cubesats can also be applied to MEO or GTO / HEO sats. Arianespace may no longer be flying test flights, but Falcon 9 will go to GTO (and needs to be tested) as will the new Indian launcher. There are new satellites going en-mass to 20,000km too. A ride share with Galileo etc may be just as good. Thanks David In a message dated 04/02/2011 13:08:19 GMT Standard Time, ve9...@gmail.com writes:
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bruce Robertson <ve9...@gmail.com> Date: Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 8:49 AM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Rideshare missions to GTO, $800K for 3U Cubesat To: "John B. Stephensen" <kd6...@comcast.net> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 7:46 PM, John B. Stephensen <kd6...@comcast.net> wrote: > The interesting question is is how much will AMSAT members be willing to > invest in ground stations. A 3U cubesat could provide a HEO satellite > similar to Arsene (AO-24). > > 73, > > John > KD6OZH That's a great point, John, and an interesting analogy, which I'd not heard about before. Does anyone have recollections and experiences with AO-24 that they could share? 73, Bruce -- http://ve9qrp.blogspot.com -- http://ve9qrp.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
