Hi! Since this discussion started around the topic of the 700 ballots AMSAT-NA received for the Board election, let me add one point to that thought. Thanks to those who voted in the election, whether or not you voted for me. Thanks for taking the time to consider each person who was on the ballot, and for selecting the person or persons you voted for.
> Amsat is living in a brave new world where launches are fully commercialized > and nobody gets a free ride anymore. We will either adapt to that paradigm > shift or we will cease to exist. This is the point some want to overlook. It is unfortunate that we are not able to get the free or extremely cheap launches that we had in the past. When there are more satellites to be launched than launches, the launch providers set the prices. Other than some opportunities like AMSAT has for Fox-1 from NASA, the days of free launches are pretty much a thing of the past. So we adapt to the new reality. > AO-40 was a once in a lifetime opportunity. ESA offered us a 600 kilogram ride > on one of the first Ariane 5 vehicles and we voted to go for it. The reasons > for AO-40's failure have been covered before, and further analysis will not > add to the discussion. It is not a mistake to throw deep sometimes. If AO-40 > had worked as designed, it would have revolutionized amateur radio. We gambled > and lost and we will most likely never see another 600 kg launch opportunity. > > The Eagle project was started about a decade ago in hope of launching a more > modest HEO replacement for AO-40, and to be able to do so on a regular basis > so that a single satellite failure would not ground the entire program. This > effort was overtaken by the tidal wave of cubesats. With every single > university on Earth launching a cubesat all of the available launch > opportunities are filled with pea-pod launchers and there is no room for > Eagle, unless someone writes a check for $10 million. Even before the late-2000s global financial crisis, AMSAT-NA was not receiving a steady stream of contributions to support the Eagle project. Add in the ITAR regulations that have put a serious crimp on how US hams can interact with the rest of the world on satellite projects, things have changed - and not for the better. ITAR also got in the way of US hams and AMSAT-NA helping AMSAT-DL with Phase-3E. Take a look at the AMSAT-NA Fox PayPal widget and how much it is up to. It will be helpful for Fox, but AMSAT-NA needs a whole lot more to begin talking about an HEO project. It's unfortunate, but that's what we're up against. If AMSAT-NA decided to build an HEO satellite without an airtight guaranteed launch opportunity or funding for a launch, this would be a most irresponsible move on the part of the AMSAT-NA Board. AMSAT-NA cannot, and should not, start an HEO project in the hopes there will be a launch opportunity or the funding for a launch that will show up when the satellite is ready. We'd end up with a satellite that sits on a lab shelf somewhere, just like Phase-3E, and the AMSAT-NA Board would deserve to be run out of town for an expenditure like that going nowhere. With this in mind, and the previous Eagle project's failure to attract the needed contributions, AMSAT-NA is proceeding with the Fox project and other efforts for launches or projects where an amateur payload can ride along on other satellites. AMSAT-DL is proceeding with its efforts to find a launch opportunity, and I hope they are successful. The same is true for AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube, the New Zealand KiwiSAT project, among others. Many of you have heard me talk about the fun I have had working the satellites over the past few years. I never had the opportunity to work the HEO satellites we had. If Phase-3E, or some other HEO satellite, were to be launched - I'd enjoy the work to change my station so it could use that satellite. Until then, I will enjoy working the satellites we have - all LEO, SSB and even FM, despite not holding a Technician license anymore. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ _______________________________________________ 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
