Mark Johns

March 23, 2025

In this edition:

* January/February 2025 Issue of The AMSAT Journal is Now Available
* Fram2Ham SSTV Transmissions Planned
* Alba Orbital Assists AMSAT-EA With HADES-ICM Project
* Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander Photographs Eclipse From The Moon
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

Sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

January/February 2025 Issue of The AMSAT Journal is Now Available

The January/February 2025 issue of The AMSAT Journal is now available to members on AMSAT’s Member Portal.

The AMSAT Journal is a bi-monthly digital magazine for amateur radio in space enthusiasts, published by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). Each issue is your source for hardware and software projects, technical tips, STEM initiatives, operational activities, and news from around the world.

Inside the Current Issue:

• Apogee View – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
• Engineering Update – AMSAT News Service
• Mitigating and Monitory Space Traffic and Debris – Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK
• Transceivers for Satellite Operation – Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF
• New England Sci-Tech Updates AMSAT TLE Bulletins – RJ Fitzgerald, N1BGA, et al.
• Determination of Spacecraft Orbital Elements from In-flight GNSS Measurements – Joseph DiVerdi, Ph.D., MBA, K0NMR
• SpaceX Launches Hamsats on Rideshare Mission – AMSAT News Service

AMSAT members may access the issue, and a library of back issues, by logging into their member account at https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Login. Non-members may join AMSAT at https://launch.amsat.org/Membership in order to access The AMSAT Journal and to receive a variety of other member benefits.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Have Just Arrived!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
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Fram2Ham SSTV Transmissions Planned

Astronaut and radio amateur, Rabea Rogge LB9NJ / KD3AID, will be transmitting amateur radio Slow Scan TV images from space during the SpaceX Fram2 mission, planned for launch on March 31.

The Fram2 mission is set to become the first human space flight in polar orbit – flying over the North and South poles. Named after the famous polar exploration ship Fram, which completed voyages to both the Arctic and Antarctica. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch four astronauts from Europe and Australia into orbit for 3-5 days.

Rabea Rogge LB9NJ / KD3AID [Photo credit: DLR]

During the Fram2 mission Rabea Rogge, LB9NJ (Norway) and KD3AID (USA), will be operating the onboard amateur (ham) radio system sending SSTV images as part of a high school and university student competition. These SSTV images will also be available to be received by the general public during the mission.

The International Space Station simulated the Fram2 SSTV mode PD-120 transmissions from February 13-17 on 437.550 MHz FM to enable people to gain proficiency in receiving the signals before the mission.

Fram2Ham is an experimental radio competition open to high school and university ages. Rogge will send pictures of three geographical locations via an onboard ham radio, but here’s the twist: they’ll be cut into pieces and mixed up! Participants will receive only fragments of the locations and need to guess where on Earth they are and what their role in polar history was. While anyone can receive the pictures, forming an international team may help you solve the puzzle!

There are several challenges like low transmit power, variations of antenna orientation, and a short, 3-day mission duration, with only a limited time assigned for the SSTV operation. These challenges require operating proficiency and the use of the best attainable radio station and this simulation shall give the possibility to exercise this.

For more information on the Fram2 mission and for youth organizations interested in participating in the Fram2Ham SSTV competition, see https://fram2ham.com/

First human Spaceflight to Earth’s polar regions https://f2.com/

Fram2Ham on Discord https://discord.com/invite/GYQzmSh5sp

Competition details https://fram2ham.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/amapay_user_manual-ver-2-7-2025.pdf

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and FRAM2 Ham for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas?

Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.
When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
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Alba Orbital Assists AMSAT-EA With HADES-ICM Project

Alba Orbital (UK, USA, Germany) is the world’s leading PocketQube company that has delivered 53 pico-satellites on-orbit to date. These include five PocketQube satellites from three different countries recently flown on-board SpaceX’s Transporter-13 Rideshare mission.

Alba Orbital’s AlbaPod [Photo: Alba Orbital]

The satellites were integrated into Alba Orbital’s PocketQube Deployer, AlbaPod, at their new facilities in Hillington Industrial Estate, Glasgow, the world’s first PocketQube factory. After integration, the cluster of pocket-sized satellites were shipped out to SpaceX and then hitched their ride to LEO.

PocketQubes are highly miniaturized satellites, typically 5 cm cubed per unit (‘P’), that can be launched to orbit for as little as 25K euros via Alba Orbital’s rideshare services. PocketQubes are cost-effective, quicker to build, and provide versatile options for a variety of missions that range from educational projects to advanced technological demonstrations.

Payloads aboard this mission include HADES-ICM – HYDRA SPACE / IC MERCURY / SMART IR [Photo: Alba Orbital]

HADES-ICM, a 1.5p PocketQube, this smallsat is carrying an open voice transponder for the radio amateur community. It will be operated by the non-proft organization AMSAT-EA. The PocketQube includes the UK based Smart IR’s technology experiment that will be conducted on-orbit as well as an icMercury experiment. Inspiring space sustainability text messages that will be broadcasted periodically by HADES-ICM.

[ANS thanks Alba Orbital for the above information]

Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander Photographs Eclipse From The Moon

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander snapped a gorgeous photo of a solar eclipse from the Moon in which Earth covers up most of the Sun, leaving only the so-called diamond ring effect.

[Photo: Firefly Aerospace]

The lander snapped the photo at around 05:30z on Friday March 14, as the Earth slowly blocked a view of the Sun. The solar eclipse on the Moon occurred at the same time as a total lunar eclipse here on Earth. Terrestrial viewers saw the lunar surface turn a red hue.

[Photo: Firefly Aerospace]

The eclipse lasted for around five hours at the lunar landing site in Mare Crisium. Firefly released another image from the earlier part of the eclipse that shows the lander’s solar panel as the Sun starts to hide behind Earth’s shadow.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander was launched on January 15 and successfully touched down on the Moon on Sunday, March 2 at around 07:30z. It landed upright, with no issues, unlike the Intuitive Machines lander which toppled over on landing on March 6.

This is Firefly’s first mission to the Moon, so Blue Ghost is packed with ten NASA instruments designed to probe the lunar surface and gather data to (hopefully) support upcoming human missions to the natural satellite. This is all part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Not long after sunset at the end of the lunar day on March 16, 2025, the Lander’s batteries were depleted, communications were lost and the spacecraft’s mission was officially declared ended at 23:25z.

[ANS thanks Engadget for the above information]

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 21

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

NOTICE: In an effort to minimize confusion between sources of two line element sets, AMSAT is adopting the convention of listing the USSF/NORAD Satellite Catalog name first, followed by any secondary name or names in parentheses. For example, “POEM 4 (BGS ARPIT)” was added recently where “POEM 4” is the name that appears in the U.S. Space Force Satellite Catalog, and “BGS ARPIT” is the name best known within the amateur satellite community. Expect name changes for affected satellites in the coming weeks as this change is fully implemented.

This week there are no additions or deletions to the AMSAT TLE distribution.

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Canadian Elementary School Maple Bear, Sofia, Bulgaria, direct via LZ1KRN
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Don Pettit, KD5MDT
The ARISS mentor is IN3GHZ
Contact is go for: Mon 2025-03-24 14:23:27 UTC 42 deg

Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Aleksey Ovchinin
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for Thu 2025-03-27 09:00 UTC

Yonezawa 5th Junior High School, Yonezawa, Japan, direct via 8N7Y5JH
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Don Pettit, KD5MDT
The ARISS mentor is 7M3TJZ
Contact is go for: Fri 2025-03-28 09:56:00 UTC 30 deg

Aznakaevsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Ivan Vagner
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for Fri 2025-03-28 12:50 UTC

City of St. Petersburg School, St. Petersburg, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Aleksey Ovchinin
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for 2025-04-03 12:45 UTC

Ufa City School, Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Ivan Vagner
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR
Contact is go for 2025-04-04 10:25 UTC

Congratulations and welcome home to Sunita Williams, KD5PLB!  She has done 92 events/78 contacts.  She has the lead at the moment!

The crossband repeater continues to be ACTIVE (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also ACTIVE (145.825 MHz up & down).

Ham TV – (2395.00 MHz down) is currently STOWED.

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

None listed at this time.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

AMSAT Ambassador Mitch Ahrenstorff, ADØHJ, speaks with an interested attendee at the Midwinter Madness Hamfest in Buffalo, Minn. on Saturday, March 22. Ambassadors Paul Overn, KEØPBR, and Mark Johns, KØJM, were also kept busy at the table during the event. [Photo: KØJM]

March 27, 2025
AMSAT Update and Info
West Fork Amateur Radio Club
Paradise Fire Dept.
303 Main St.
Paradise, TX 76073
https://wfarc.org/
W5ITR

April 4 – 5, 2025
Southeastern VHF Conference 2025
Quality Inn
3095 Wilma Rudolph Blvd
Clarksville, TN 37040
W4FCL

April 5, 2025
RARSfest
Jim Graham Building
NC State Fairgrounds
Youth Center Drive, Gate 5
Raleigh NC
https://www.rarsfest.org/index.php
K4EB, N4AEW, W1DCM, KK4HG, N4HF

May 16-18, 2025
Dayton Hamvention
Greene County Fair and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road, Xenia, OH
https://hamvention.org/

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The four members of the Crew-9 mission — Nick Hague, KG5TMV; Sunita Williams, KD5PLB; Barry “Butch” Wilmore; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — splashed down in the Gulf near Tallahassee, Florida shortly before 2200 UTC on Tuesday, March 18. Hague and Gorbunov launched to the ISS onboard the Dragon Freedom spacecraft in September 2024 and returned to Earth after logging 171 total days in space. Their colleagues, Williams and Wilmore, returned to Earth with 286 days in space after originally arriving at the space station onboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft launched on June 5, 2024. Prior to the departure of Starliner, two extra seats were created inside Dragon Endeavour (which brought up Crew-8) so that in the case of an emergency, Williams and Wilmore would have a way to return home. Thus, they were never actually “stranded” in space, as some media have reported. (ANS thanks SpaceFlight Now for the above information.)

+ The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) annual conference will be held October 21-23, 2025. NRO brings together the best in academia and the private sector to keep America at the forefront of space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance technology. NRO is soliciting abstracts for paper presentations at the conference. Previous topics included: Quantum Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Manufacturing, Remote Sensing, Microelectronics, RF Technologies, Space Situational Awareness, & Other Enabling Technologies. Abstract deadline is April 18, 2025. See https://www.nro.gov/SRL/ for details. (ANS thanks David Vine, WA1EAW, for the above information.)

+ Researchers have broken a distance record in quantum communication by sending a secret encryption key nearly 13,000 km from China to South Africa, using a cheap, lightweight ‘microsatellite’. The satellite was able to send pulses of laser light, put into special quantum states, from a rooftop in Beijing to another at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town. The pulses formed a quantum key that was used to encrypt two images — one of China’s Great Wall and one showing part of Stellenbosch’s campus. The feat, a kind of encryption known as quantum key distribution (QKD), is a step towards being able to send ultra-secure messages between any two locations, however distant. (ANS thanks Nature.com for the above information.)

+ The increasing threat from space debris calls for both higher maneuverability in orbit and a reduction of the amount of junk. British startup Magdrive claims it can help with both, via a new propulsion system for spacecraft that will launch into space for the first time later this year and will be fueled by solid metal. The first incarnation of the Magdrive system — called Warlock — is set to launch into orbit in June 2025. It works by creating power using onboard solar panels to ionize metal. Once detonated, the metal is turned into extremely hot and dense plasma, or electrically charged gas. For now, the system is not refuelable. In the more distant future, however, the system could obtain its fuel from existing space junk, by harvesting dead satellites for metal to use as propellant. (ANS thanks CNN Science for the above information.)

+ In the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest camera ever built. But the rising number of satellites in orbit can be a problem for scientists because the satellites interfere with ground-based astronomical observations, by creating bright streaks on images and electromagnetic interference with radio telescopes. Until recently, astronomers had no centralized reference for tracking satellites. Now, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a virtual Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), which serves as an information hub. One of the centre’s tools, called SatChecker, draws on a public database of satellite orbits, fed by information from observers and companies that track objects in space. Astronomers can use SatChecker to confirm what satellite is passing overhead during their observations. (ANS thanks Nature.com for the above information.)

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
* Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, KØJM
mjohns [at] amsat.org

ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002

ANS-075, March 16, 2025

In this edition:

* Amateur Satellites Finally Launch After Delays
* NASA’s SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions Launch
* ISS Changes Crew for Expedition 73
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

Sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

Amateur Satellites Finally Launch After Delays

After delaying the launch of the mission a (highly unusual) seven times — it was originally slated to take to the skies on Feb. 27 — a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket finally carried the 13th Rideshare to orbit on Saturday, March 15. The launch carried 74 small satellites to sun-sychronous orbit (SSO), lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California at 06:43 UTC (11:43 p.m. on March 14 local California time).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Transporter 13 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 15, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Among the satellites aboard is HADES-ICM 1.5 PocketQube satellite main mission is to act as a FM voice repeater. It can also repeat FSK derived modes like FT-4 and FT-8. It has the same functionalities as in HADES-R (SO-124). FM and Digital modes repeater with Uplink on 145.875 MHz and Downlink on 436.666 MHz. It also carries the same experiment for SMART-IR/Manchester University. The repeater will not be active until all the checks have been performed on the satellite. This can take several weeks.

A group of satellites labeled as “TEVEL2” are on the launch manifest for the SpaceX Transporter 13 mission. Designated as TEVEL2-1 through TEVE2-9, they are all listed as having a downlink frequency of 436.400 MHz, and are expected to be activated in rotation, much in the same way as the previous constellation of TEVEL satellites, which have now all decayed from orbit.

A French cubesat named UVSQ-Sat NG — or “Next Generation” is also on the launch manifest. This satellite appears to have capabilities for amateur operation, however no such operation has been coordinated or announced.

See AMSAT News Service bulletins 061 for more details on all of these satellites.

[ANS thanks Space.com and AMSAT-EA for the above information]

The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Have Just Arrived!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
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NASA’s SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions Launch

NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions were launched together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Tuesday evening, March 11 (early March 12 UTC). The launch had been delayed one day due to unfavorable weather at the launch site and an issue with one of the spacecraft.

SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) will then collect data on more than 450 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way in order to explore the origins of the universe, contributing to NASA Science’s key goals to discover the secrets of the universe and search for life elsewhere.

NASA’s SPHEREx mission will operate in low Earth orbit, detecting hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies and creating the first all-sky spectroscopic survey in the near-infrared. This artist’s concept shows the spacecraft and its distinctive conical photon shields, which protect SPHEREx’s telescope from infrared light and heat from the Sun and Earth. (Graphic: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The mission’s 3D all-sky map will help scientists answer big-picture questions about the universe. The mission will investigate a cosmic phenomenon called inflation that caused the universe to expand rapidly for a fraction of a second after the big bang, measure the collective glow created by galaxies near and far, including hidden galaxies that have not been individually observed, and search the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water, carbon dioxide, and other essential ingredients for life.

The SPHEREx mission’s ability to scan large sections of the sky quickly and gather data on millions of objects complements the work of more targeted telescopes, like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb, and the observatory’s data will be freely available to scientists around the world, providing a new encyclopedia of information about hundreds of millions of cosmic objects.

Along for the ride was a second mission, PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), a mission consisting of four satellites operating in concert. These small sats will observe the Sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind, supporting NASA Science’s key goals by creating a broad awareness and understanding of how the Sun creates conditions that influence Earth and space, which is increasingly part of the human domain.

Illustration of one of the four identical PUNCH satellites in operation. (Graphic: NASA)

By providing scientists with new information about how these potentially disruptive solar events form and evolve, data from PUNCH could lead to more accurate prediction about the arrival and impact of such events on Earth and for humanity’s robotic explorers in space.

Following orbital adjustments and commissioning, each of these two missions is planned to last for at least two years, contributing valuable data to the study of the universe and the sun’s influence on space weather.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas?
Purchase M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store.

When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

ISS Changes Crew for Expedition 73

The 73rd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) will begin with the departure of Soyuz MS-26, expected to take place in April 2025. The Expedition 73 crew will consist of astronauts cosmonauts just launched to the station aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance, as well as those soon to follow aboard the Soyuz MS-27.

The crew of MS-26, Russian cosmonaunts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and American astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT, are already making preparations for departure in the coming weeks.

Scheduled for departure even sooner — probably in the coming week — is SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom with two members of SpaceX Crew 9, astronaut Nick Hague, KG5TMV, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, accompanied by U.S. astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, and Sunita Williams, KD5PLB. Wilmore and Williams were launched to the ISS in June of last year aboard the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test.

The astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew 10 (from left) Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi and Anne McClain, leave crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center, FL Wednesday, March 12, 2025 headed for the launch pad. They finally launched to the International Space Station on March 14.
(Photo: Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK)

SpaceX Crew 10 consists of NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who will serve as Crew-10’s commander. She is joined by Crew-10’s pilot, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, KJ5GWI, mission specialist Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Crew 10 was launched from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 14, at 23:03 UTC after a scrub on Wednesday. The March 12 launch attempt was scrubbed due to an issue with the hydraulics on ground support systems on the launch pad.

That crew will be joined later next month by the crew of Soyuz MS-27, which is scheduled to consist of cosmonaunts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, as well as American astronaut Jonny Kim.

Once the MS-26 crew departs, Takuya Onishi of the Japan will serve as the commander of Expedition 73, the third JAXA astronaut to take command of the station. Born in Nerima, Japan, Onishi earned an aeronautical and space engineering degree from the University of Tokyo and was a co-pilot of Boeing 767 airplanes from 2003 to 2009. Onishi will fly to space for the second time on Crew-10, having previously flown to the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-01 in 2016 as part of Expedition 48/49. JAXA and NASA selected Onishi for NASA’s 20th astronaut group in 2009.

Expedition 73 will continue the extensive scientific research conducted aboard the ISS, focusing on various fields, including biology, human physiology, physics, and materials science. The crew members will also maintain and upgrade the space station systems.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for 14 March

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

NOTICE: In an effort to minimize confusion between sources of two line element sets, AMSAT is adopting the convention of listing the USSF/NORAD Satellite Catalog name first, followed by any secondary name or names in parentheses. For example, “POEM 4 (BGS ARPIT)” was added recently where “POEM 4” is the name that appears in the U.S. Space Force Satellite Catalog, and “BGS ARPIT” is the name best known within the amateur satellite community. Expect name changes for affected satellites in the coming weeks as this change is fully implemented.

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:
+ HYDRA-T NORAD Cat ID 62692 Downlink 437.778 MHz

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

None scheduled in the immediate future due to crew changes.

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol. Systems will be OFF for Crew Dragon docking on March 16, and for undocking later in the week.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

+ N4AKV/R will be on various satellites from FM25, FM26, FM27, and FM28 on March 16-18. See hams.at for details.

+ PA3GAN will be on AO-07 from JO22 on March 16.

+ WD5GRW will be on FM satellites for a POTA operation in EM01 on March 16.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks hams.at for the above information]

AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

March 22, 2025
Midwinter Madness Hamfest
Buffalo Civic Center
1306 County Rd 134
Buffalo MN 55313
https://k0ltc.org/midwinter-madness/
KØJM, ADØHJ, KEØPBR

March 27, 2025
AMSAT Update and Info
West Fork Amateur Radio Club
Paradise Fire Dept.
303 Main St.
Paradise, TX 76073
https://wfarc.org/
W5ITR

April 4 – 5, 2025
Southeastern VHF Conference 2025
Quality Inn
3095 Wilma Rudolph Blvd
Clarksville, TN 37040
https://svhfs.org/wp/2025-conference/
W4FCL

April 5, 2025
RARSfest
Jim Graham Building
NC State Fairgrounds
Youth Center Drive, Gate 5
Raleigh NC
https://www.rarsfest.org/index.php
K4EB, N4AEW, W1DCM, KK4HG, N4HF

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ AMSAT Italia is pleased to announce the renewal of its Board of Directors, which were elected on February 26th and assigned to the role on March 3rd. The new Board of Directors, in charge for the period 2025-2027, consists of:

• De Paolis Francesco IKØWGF – President / Treasurer
• Ferrario Gianpietro IZ2GOJ – Vice President
• Andrioli Fabio IZØQPO – Secretary
• Ariotti Claudio IK1SLD – Board Member
• Tognolatti Piero IØKPT – Board Member

Andrioli Fabio IZØQPO and Tognolatti Piero IØKPT join the BoD after being former members of the board of auditors. Fabrizio Carrai IU5GEZ and Emanuele D’Andria IØELE leave the BoD, while Emanuele IØELE was already appointed by the assembly of associates as President Emeritus of AMSAT Italia. For more information about AMSAT Italia and its activities, please visit their website https://www.amsat.it. (ANS thanks Francesco De Paolis, IKØWGF, for the above information.)

+ Intuitive Machine’s IM-2 Athena lander touched down near the Moon’s south pole, 250 meters from its target in the Mons Mouton region, inside of a crater. But, while a softer landing than last time, like IM-1 in Feb 2024, the lander appears to have fallen over into an “incorrect attitude” ending up “somewhat on its side.” A day later the mission was declared over, with little hope of even partial recovery due to solar panels oriented in the wrong direction and the extreme cold temperatures in the crater. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ With somewhat better luck, another private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon on March 2, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth’s celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon’s northeastern edge of the near side. (ANS thanks The Associate Press for the above information.)

+ Starship blew up over the Caribbean, again. Starship Flight 8 seems to have suffered the same fate as its predecessor. Eight minutes into Ship 34’s powered flight, four of its six Raptor engines shut down, and the craft began to tumble. Minutes later, it exploded over the Caribbean, producing a similarly spectacular light show as the last flight. In better news, Super Heavy Booster 15 was again caught by its launch tower, an incredible feat that is somehow slowly starting to look routine. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ NASA recently turned off Voyager 1’s cosmic ray subsystem experiment and Voyager 2’s low-energy charged particle instrument to conserve power. At 43 years old, both craft are at half their initial power levels, now operating at around 235W each and losing about 4W of power generation capacity each year. In part, this is due to the 87.7-year half-life decay of Plutonium-238, which powers the probes’ three Multi-Hundred-Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
* Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, KØJM
mjohns [at] amsat.org

ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002

In this edition:

* Amateur Satellites Scheduled for Launch This Week
* Nine New TEVEL Satellites Scheduled for Launch
* UVSQ-Sat NG Scheduled for Launch
* Intuitive Machines’ Lunar Lander Beams Back First Images of Earth
* SpaceX Delays Flight 8 of Starship
* GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers March 2025 Rankings
* VUCC Standings February 2025
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] amsat.org

Sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

Amateur Satellites Scheduled for Launch This Week

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a dozens of satellites on the company’s 13th smallsat rideshare mission to a sun-synchronous orbit. The launch is currently scheduled for Tuesday, March 4.

Among those satellites is HADES-ICM 1.5 PocketQube satellite main mission is to act as a FM voice repeater. It can also repeat FSK derived modes like FT-4 and FT-8.

As there is a small empty space available, it will be used to carry an experiment by Smart IR/Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, GEIC University of Manchester (UK) consisting in a very low power active radiator to be tested on space conditions. The data for this experiment will be transmitted in a specific data packet in the telemetry. This experiment is the same as the one in HADES-R [now SO-124 — see ANS-054]. This experiment will be delivered to AMSAT EA for integration and will be operated by AMSAT-EA, being all its data public and open.

Engineering and manufacturing support for this mission is carried out with the help of private sector companies and universities, but AMSAT-EA will be the only operating organization.

icMercury is a company also supporting the mission. It will develop ground tracking software for the satellite. Telemetry will send some FSK English formatted text messages, part of a history, to be collected as a challenge.

HADES-ICM will offer licensed radio-amateur around the world the opportunity to relay FM voice and AX.25 / APRS 300 / 1200 bps communications. FSK derived transmissions and modes like FT-4 and FT-8 are also supported. As an improvement from previous missions, maximum power is now 0.25W when battery is charged (the amplifier uses battery energy), allowing easier QSOs with handheld antennas like Arrow or Elk and less sensitive receivers.

The satellite will also transmit telemetry with its status and CW messages. This all will be achieved by implementing a SDR based repeater. The FM / FSK repeater will be available all time and opened by squelch level without the need of a subtone.

As payload, the satellite will carry an experiment by Smart IR/Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, GEIC University of Manchester (UK) consisting in a very low power active radiator to be tested on space conditions. This experiment is the same as the one in HADES-R satellite with updates and improvements. Also, as a challenge made with icMercury, telemetry will send FSK English formatted text messages, part of a history, to be collected.

This satellite is based on the hardware of HADES-D (SO-121, currently being used by hams worldwide for voice contacts) and the next to launch HADES-R. FM satellites are very demanded and appreciated by the ham community because they are easy to use, they don’t require of expensive transceivers and allow continental and even transatlantic contacts in some conditions.

With this satellite we also put into use the amateur VHF and UHF satellite sub-bands helping to secure them for the community in the future. Proposing a UHF downlink and planning a launch on SpaceX Transporter 13 into a 500-600 km polar orbit in Feb 2025. A downlink on 436.666 MHz has been coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

[ANS thanks IARU for the above information]

The 2025 AMSAT President’s Club Coins Have Just Arrived!
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight
Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus.

Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

Nine New TEVEL Satellites Scheduled for Launch

A group of satellites labeled as “TEVEL2” are on the launch manifest for the SpaceX ransporter 13 mission scheduled for launch on March 4. Designated as TEVEL2-1 through TEVE2-9, they are all listed as having a downlink frequency of 436.400 MHz. However, this frequency has not been coordinated with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

One may assume that these satellites will operate in much the same manner as the first series of TEVEL satellites, launched in January of 2022 and now decayed from orbit. These satellites were activated individually and carried FM repeaters with the same 436.400 MHz downlink, and an uplink frequency of 145.970 MHz. However, there is no official word from the satellite sponsors as to their plans for this new series of satellites.

Yet another satellite on the Transporter 13 manifest is NILA, a 3U cubesat built by HEX20Labs and students of Marian Engineering College, both in India. The builders of this satellite requested a UHF downlink for 9600 bps GFSK/AX25 telemetry. However, the IARU declined the request because they deemed the project commercial, and not qualifying for use of amateur frequencies.

[ANS thanks Jan van Gils, PEØSAT, for the above information]

UVSQ-Sat NG Scheduled for Launch

Also among the satellites on the manifest for the SpaceX Rideshare 13 launch is the third of a series of French cubesats, named UVSQ-Sat NG — or “Next Generation.” The previous satellites in this series carried amateur radio FM transponders.

Specifically designed to observe essential climate variables, UVSQ-Sat NG is a 6U nanosatellite, meaning that it has the dimensions of six stacked unit cubes, each cube having a standard size of 10 centimetres by. Weighing only 10 kg, UVSQ-Sat NG represents a true concentrate of technology. The satellite is equipped with a sophisticated attitude determination and control system designed to meet a variety of scientific requirements related to the observation of essential climate variables. This addition distinguishes it considerably from its two predecessors, UVSQ-Sat and INSPIRE-Sat 7. In a study published in the journal Remote Sensing Journal, a team of researchers from the Atmospheres Laboratory, Space Observations (LATMOS – CNRS/Sorbonne University / UVSQ), in partnership with industry, described this new space mission as well as its scientific aims. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2025.

One of the objectives of UPSQ-Sat NG is to maintain the continuity of the Earth’s Radial Assessment studies initiated by the UVSQ-Sat and INSPIRE-Sat 7 satellites, launched in 2021 and 2023 respectively. The UVSQ-Sat NG mission also involves monitoring concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, while analysing their links with infrared radiation emitted by the Earth.

In addition to the methods used to determine the components of the Earth’s Radial Balance sheet from the instruments of the UVSQ-Sat NG satellite, researchers detail the technologies used to extract information on atmospheric gas columns (CO2, CH4, O2, H2O) from data from the miniaturised infrared spectrometer that will be on board UPSQ-Sat NG.

Both scientific and innovative, this research project is primarily an educational tool, and is an exceptional educational platform for students who are actively involved in the design, implementation of the satellite structure, and the establishment of a satellite management and management centre. This programme aims to meet the requirements of enterprises and public bodies in terms of training, development of initial and continuous educational programmes, while at the same time increasing the attractiveness of these training courses. This is in order to ensure the acquisition of the key competences required for the emerging professions of France in 2030.

UVSQ-Sat NG is equipped with several instruments, including radiative sensors (thermopiles with carbon nanotubes) for monitoring incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation. A near-infrared spectrometer is also on board to evaluate atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases by making observations in the wavelength range of 1200 to 2000 nm.

In addition, UVSQ-Sat NG carries a high-definition camera designed to take images of the Earth in the visible spectrum. This NanoCam will facilitate the post-processing of spectrometer-based data by ensuring accurate geolocation of observed scenes. It will also offer the possibility of observing the Earth’s edge, thus giving an approximate estimation of the vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere.

A scientific paper published in the journal, Remote Sensing states that, “The Isispace VHF Receiver (RX) operates in the commercial frequency range of 148 to 150.5 MHz, and for amateur frequency coordination, it operates within the frequency range of 145.8 to 146.0 MHz. On the other hand, the Isispace VHF Transmitter (TX) covers the commercial frequency range of 400.15 to 402.0 MHz and, for amateur usage, it spans the range of 435.0 to 438.0 MHz. An audio transponder will also be used with the amateur radio community.”

However, no amateur frequencies have been coordinated with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and no amateur operation has been announced.

[ANS thanks Remote Sensing and IARU for the above information]

Intuitive Machines’ Lunar Lander Beams Back First Images of Earth

The Athena lunar lander manufactured by Houston, Texas aerospace company Intuitive Machines shared its first “selfies” from orbit after launching at 00:16 UTC on Thursday, Feb. 27 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The images released later Thursday show the six-legged Nova-C lander with Earth in the background. Intuitive Machines shared the photos within about 13 hours of the spacecraft launching to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Intuitive Machines, the company that built and operates that lunar lander, shared the first images from orbit after launching from Florida. The craft is carrying a number of science instruments, including water-hunting technology for NASA. [Photo: © Intuitive Machines]

The Athena spacecraft, which is on a mission known as IM-2, is now one of two American-made uncrewed lunar landers on their way to the moon’s surface. Firefly Aerospace, also based in Texas, is operating its own spacecraft named Blue Ghost that is due to attempt a landing early Sunday after about a 45-day voyage.

NASA is the primary customer on both commercial spaceflights, which are due to study different regions of the moon’s surface to pave the way for astronauts to return as early as 2027 under the space agency’s Artemis program. The NASA campaign is treating the moon as a vital pit stop for spacefarers to pause and fuel up ahead of the first crewed missions to Mars.

If all goes to plan, Athena should be landing on the moon’s south pole on Thursday, March 6.

The IM-2 mission is targeting a landing near a plateau known as Mons Mouton, which would be even further south than Intuitive Machines’ first lander, Odysseus, which made history in February 2024. The mesa-like lunar mountain towers over a landscape carved by craters, including the Shackleton Crater – a cold, dark region where water ice and other volatile materials that turn easily into gas are thought to be abundant.

The main experiment onboard Athena is NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1). The dual instrument composed of both a drill and a mass spectrometer will excavate and measure lunar soil, known as regolith, to detect whether gases and accessible resources are present.

Water ice thought to be abundant in the region, once uncovered, could be extracted and used for drinking, breathing and as a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel to make future expeditions to Mars possible, according to NASA.

Other objectives include testing a Nokia LTE 4G communications system and deploying a propulsive drone capable of hopping across the lunar surface.

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, which launched as a rideshare on the Falcon 9, also began its own separate journey to lunar orbit to map the distribution of the different forms of water on Earth’s only natural satellite.

[ANS thanks Eric Lagatta reporting for USA Today for the above information]

SpaceX Delays Flight 8 of Starship

SpaceX has pushed the eighth test flight of its Starship megarocket back a few days.

Elon Musk’s company had been targeting Friday (Feb. 28) for Flight 8 of Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. But that’s no longer the plan.

“Now targeting to launch Starship’s eighth flight test as soon as Monday, March 3,” SpaceX said in an X post early on Thursday morning (Feb. 27). No reason was given for the delay.

If all goes to plan, Starship will lift off from Starbase, SpaceX’s facility in South Texas, on Monday during a window that opens at 2330 UTC (5:30 p.m. local Texas time).

SpaceX will try for another “chopsticks” catch of Super Heavy, the booster — its third overall, if successful — and Ship, the upper stage, will attempt to deploy mock Starlink satellites on its suborbital trajectory.

Ship will again target a controlled splashdown off Western Australia. Eventually, SpaceX plans to snag the returning upper stage using the launch tower’s chopsticks as well, but the company isn’t ready to try that just yet.

[ANS thanks Space.com for the above information]

GridMasterMap Satellite Top 100 Rovers March 2025 Rankings

The March 2025 rankings for the Top 100 Rovers (Mixed LEO/MEO/GEO) in satellite operations, as determined by @GridMasterMap on Twitter, has been released. The ranking is determined by the number of grids and DXCC entities activated, taking into account only those grids where a minimum number of QSOs logged on the gridmaster.fr website have been validated by a third party. Grid numbers do not directly reflect the exact number of activations. Satellite operators are encouraged to upload their LoTW satellite contacts to https://gridmaster.fr in order to provide more accurate data.

Updated: 2025-02-28

[ANS thanks @GridMasterMap for the above information]

AMSAT Remove Before Flight Key Tags Now Available
Yes, These are the Real Thing!

VUCC Standings February 2025

Here are the firsts from the new VUCC holders for Feb 2025:

N5YIZ is first VUCC Satellite holder from EL08
KH6WI/W9 (EN54) is first VUCC Satellite holder from EN54
W4BB is first VUCC Satellite holder from FM04
G4BWP is first VUCC Satellite holder from JO02
SV8CKM is first VUCC Satellite holder from KM08
SV2DSJ is first VUCC Satellite holder from KN10
ER1KW is first VUCC Satellite holder from Moldova and KN46
RA3LAS is first VUCC Satellite holder from KO85
BG6HXD is first VUCC Satellite holder from OM83
BI8FFH is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM06

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ, for the above information.]

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for February 28

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/.

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

HADES-R (SO-124) NORAD Cat ID 62690

The following satellites have been deleted from this weeks AMSAT TLE distribution:

SO-120 NORAD Cat ID 56992 Decayed from orbit on or about 11 February 2025
XW-2C NORAD Cat ID 40906 Decayed from orbit on or about 16 February 2026

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

FAILED
Royal Moroccan Air Academy, Marrakech, Morocco, direct via CN8ERA
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be OR4ISSThe scheduled crewmember was Sunita Williams, KD5PLB
The ARISS mentor is IN3GHZ
Contact was not successful for: Fri 2025-02-21 11:12:20 UTC 72 degrees maximum elevation
ARISS is working to determine what exactly happened.

UPCOMING
No additional contacts are scheduled in the immediate future.

The crossband repeater continues to be active (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.

The packet system is also active (145.825 MHz up & down).

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Kyle Chavis, WA4PGM, will be QRV from St. Lucia from 26 Feb through 4 Mar as J68HZ. OPERATION SUSPENDED DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER. Keep an eye on hams.at for additional info.

Tom Gaines, KB5FHK, plans operations from EM62 and from EM72 on March 8 & 9. See hams.at for details.

A growing number of satellite rovers are currently engaged in sharing their grid square activations on https://hams.at. By visiting the website, you gain easy access to comprehensive information about the operators responsible for activating specific grid squares. Additionally, you have the ability to assess the match score between yourself and a particular rover for a given pass, while also being able to identify the upcoming satellite passes that are accessible from your location.

[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

AMSAT Ambassador Activities

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

March 1, 2025
Irving Hamfest
Betcha Bingo Hall
2420 W. Irving Blvd.
Irving, TX 75014
http://irvingarc.org/hamfest
N5HYP

March 22, 2025
Midwinter Madness Hamfest
Buffalo Civic Center
1306 County Rd 134
Buffalo MN 55313
https://k0ltc.org/midwinter-madness/
KØJM, ADØHJ, KEØPBR

April 4 – 5, 2025
Southeastern VHF Conference 2025
Quality Inn
3095 Wilma Rudolph Blvd
Clarksville, TN 37040
W4FCL

April 5, 2025
RARSfest
Jim Graham Building
NC State Fairgrounds
Youth Center Drive, Gate 5
Raleigh NC
https://www.rarsfest.org/index.php
K4EB, N4AEW, W1DCM, KK4HG, N4HF

[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ A total lunar eclipse will happen overnight between March 13 and March 14, 2025. It will be the first total lunar eclipse visible anywhere in the world since November 2022, and will also be the first of three happening between 2025 and 2026. During totality — the peak phase of the eclipse — the moon will turn a deep reddish-orange hue, earning it the nickname “Blood Moon.” This effect happens because Earth’s atmosphere scatters shorter wavelengths of light from the sun while allowing longer wavelengths of red and orange hues to be refracted into Earth’s umbra (the darkest part of Earth’s shadow). When these longer wavelengths strike the moon, they can make it appear red, similar to how the sky appears red during sunrise and sunset. Totality will last for an impressive 65 minutes, beginning at 0726 UTC on March 14. (ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.)

+ GOES-19 will replace GOES-16 as the operational GOES-East weather satellite on April 4, 2025. Between 17 March 2025 and 1 April 2025, the GOES-16 satellite will undergo a minor East/West station-keeping maneuver, drifting from its current operational longitude of 75.2°W to a new operational longitude of 75.5°W. During this time, the GOES-East HRIT/EMWIN Broadcast will continue from GOES-16. This 0.3°W shift is expected to induce minimal change in received signal strength for ground stations employing properly aligned small aperture antennas. GOES-19 will also begin its drift maneuver– drifting from 89.5°W to 75.2°W ~1 deg/day drift. On April 1, GOES 19 arrives at 75.2°W, then GOES-19 Post-Drift Product Checkout at new location commences. (ANS thanks Carl Reinemann, usradioguy.com, for the above information.)

+ In less than 48 hours the HB9RG Trophy of the AMSAT-HB will start. Further information has been added to the website, including the form for entering QSO data as well as provisional activity planning for the bonus day on March 10th: https://www.amsat-hb.org/hb9rg_trophy/hb9rg_trophy_2025_-_distance   QSO with station HB9RG will be rewarded with an additional 500 points on March 10th. Anyone who only wants to contact the HB9RG station on March 10 is invited to do so. Every QSO on March 10 will be confirmed with an anniversary QSL card. Share your activities for the HB9RG Trophy with us via X, Bluesky and Facebook. Use the hashtag #HB9RGTrophy. (ANS thanks Michael Lipp, HB9WDF, President AMSAT-HB, for the above information.)

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate.
* Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, KØJM
mjohns [at] amsat.org

ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002