Just throwing this out there: 1. University cubesats tend to want to occupy amateur satellite service spectrum for their science missions, V/U is common. 2. Most *science* missions are only designed to last a few years, but the orbits will last a while longer. 3. How many science missions have been completed, but the spacecraft is still in orbit and occupying amateur spectrum? (I don't know the answer but I suspect it's a decent number, probably out of single digits and into double digits, see http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CSLI_selections.html to get an idea of the number of cubesats going up from universities, note the number of "in work") 4. What if those university spacecraft carried Software Defined Radio technology as their primary method for delivering their mission data to the ground? 5. What if upon completion of their mission the universities turned over control of the spacecraft to AMSAT. 6. AMSAT then reconfigures the spacecraft such that the SDRs are now used for voice or data relay (FM, Linear, packet, whatever). 7. Now all of a sudden, hams don't have to wait for a new spacecraft to get built and find a launch. Birds already in orbit, that are using Amateur Spectrum, now all of a sudden are providing a service to the Amateur community.
Personally, I'm glad the universities are using Amateur Radio spectrum for their science missions. I view the skies as a "target rich environment" even if all I can do is listen to these birds. However, it would be nice if the birds occupying amateur spectrum actually provided a service to the amateur community. But what if the SDX that flew on ARISSat, or the one that will be developed for the Future of the Fox series could be "sold" (or given) to the university cubesat community as a radio capable of being used to deliver science data? Their science mission concludes, control is turned over to AMSAT, the radios are reconfigured, and they become transponder birds for the ham community. At the rate that these spacecraft are going up, even if we nab only 10% of the spacecraft listed on the link above and convince them to fly SDRs that can be reconfigured, that's roughly 9 satellites that over time become useable by the ham community as voice/data transponders. We don't have to build them, we don't have to find a launch, we don't have to do anything but wait until the science mission is over and then play. Will the spacecraft be of the same quality of what comes out of AMSAT? Maybe, maybe not, but even if one only lasts a year as an FM or Linear Transponder, I'd take it, and use it. Granted, who knows what the orbits would be, so a replacement for AO-40? Probably not. But would the Amateur Satellite community accept maybe instead of 1 really long pass from a HEO bird, maybe in that same time frame 10 or 20 or maybe even 50 passes from multiple lower birds (I made these numbers up, no idea what the actual numbers would be)? Granted, there is a LOT that would go into making this idea possible. We'd have to have an SDR the universities are willing to use, probably one with flight history (cough, Fox-2, cough). We'd have to have someone go around to the Universities and "sell it" to the Principal Investigators that our radio will work for them (technical issues aside, maybe they get a little PR by adding support for the Amateur community onto their list of mission objectives). If they agree to fly the radio, and then turn over control, we need to be capable of supporting those spacecraft from an Operational point of view when the time comes. We would need to have some sort of "filter" such that if they drive the heck out of their spacecraft to the point that it is nearly dead when their science mission concludes we have the option to reject taking the spacecraft over. Etc. Etc. Etc. There's a lot of "what ifs" up there, but my favorite "what if" to think about is: what if the 89 satellites on that link above were capable of supporting amateur use at the conclusion of their science missions (Fox-1 is on that list, so ok 88 satellites)? 89 satellites + what AMSAT has and is still putting up? Can't make a contact during field day on an FM bird because of crowding, no problem, you have 5 other satellites to choose from and try. My second favorite "what if" to think about is: what if the university cubesats occupying amateur spectrum actually provided a service to the amateur community? A traditional replacement of AO-40? No. Effectively reproducing the similar amounts of access time and capabilities of AO-40? Maybe. Like I said, just throwing the idea out there... -Zach, KJ4QLP _______________________________________________ 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
