Thank you to the AMSAT members who have nominated me for
another two-year term as Director. In addition to my official candidate
statement, I would like to take this opportunity to provide some more
information about my goals for AMSAT and some of my previous work and
accomplishments.
Satellite Missions
AMSAT’s most important mission is simply stated as Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. There are three key ways we are working towards that mission.
1. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS)
AMSAT’s efforts to include amateur radio as part of human
spaceflight date back to the early 1970s, with a proposal to fly amateur radio
on Skylab. In 1983, AMSAT, along with the ARRL, was able to achieve this goal
with Owen Garriott’s flight on the STS-9 mission. This later evolved into
continuing Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) missions and, finally, into
an international partnership to fly amateur radio equipment on the ISS. AMSAT
provides ARISS with significant financial, administrative, and engineering
assistance and is one of our key projects. We must continue to support ARISS as
the Next Generation Radio System nears flight. Additionally, AMSAT is working
with our ARISS partners on an amateur radio system for Gateway in lunar orbit.
The plan includes a two-way communication system. This would be an exciting
opportunity for amateur radio, and we must do everything we can to support this
opportunity.
2. Greater Orbit, Larger Footprint (GOLF)
AMSAT’s current major satellite project is GOLF. The base
design for GOLF is a 3U CubeSat with deployable solar panels, a radiation
tolerant IHU, a software defined radio (SDR) transponder, active attiude
determination and control, microwave band uplinks and downlinks, and a VHF/UHF
linear transponder. AMSAT has launch opportunities through the NASA CubeSat
Launch Initiative (CSLI) for the first two GOLF CubeSats, GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1.
The GOLF project leverages technologies developed through
our ASCENT (Advanced Satellite Communications and Exploration of New
Technology) “skunk works” program and our partnership with Ragnarok Industries
on the Heimdallr project. The systems that are developed through the GOLF
project can serve as the core for standalone satellites to MEO/GTO/HEO orbits.
Additionally, the SDR transponder and microwave RF stages can serve as the core
design for an amateur payload on a commercial or government satellite in a GEO
or HEO orbit.
3. Fox-1E Linear Transponder
In addition to our pursuit of projects for both higher
orbits and beyond earth orbit, AMSAT’s mission goals also include supporting a
steady stream of LEO satellites. In pursuit of this mission, AMSAT has made the
30 kHz VHF uplink / UHF downlink linear transponder board that will fly later
this summer on RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E available to other groups who are designing
and building CubeSats. The first example of these partnerships is HuskySat-1.
Designed and built at the Husky Satellite Lab at the University of Washington,
HuskySat-1 will launch this fall. Two other university CubeSat groups have also
tentatively agreed to fly these transponders. Additionally, a major opportunity
to fly several of these transponders is in the works.
Open Source
& ITAR/EAR Compliance
Some have suggested that
AMSAT’s satellite development work be open sourced. I want to note that I am a
big fan of open source projects, using mostly open source software on my
personal computers and several open source hardware items for both my amateur
radio and vintage computing hobbies. AMSAT has never developed proprietary
satellite hardware. We have always freely shared our designs with anyone who is
interested. Indeed, the Fox-1 Engineering Documentation as published in AMSAT’s
Symposium Proceedings is freely available for anyone to download on our
website. If it were legally possible, I would support completely opening up our
satellite development servers for anyone to participate freely. Unfortunately,
spacecraft hardware is export controlled in the United States. In addition,
some microwave transmitters and attitude determination systems may also be
controlled under the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Compliance
with U. S. federal laws and regulations is not optional. We must ensure we are
in compliance to protect our volunteers and the corporation as a whole. We have
retained a law firm to assist us with the completion of a comprehensive
ITAR/EAR policy and agreements for international partnerships.
Other
Regulatory Matters
In addition to ITAR/EAR, there are also other regulatory matters AMSAT must deal with. The 2004 orbital debris mitigation regulations and standards have already had a significant impact on the orbits that are available for AMSAT’s satellites. Additional regulations, especially the indemnification requirement proposed by the FCC in its Novmeber 2018 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) could make it nearly impossible for any amateur or non-profit organization to fly satellites to a decent orbit.
AMSAT has been active in dealing with these matters. I
authored AMSAT’s comments on two recent NPRMs and have been working with the
ARRL’s Washington counsel on an approach to deal with both orbital debris matters
and regulations on licensing for amateur and experimental CubeSats. We hope to
clear some of the regulatory hurdles that have been experienced by university
groups that want to fly amateur missions.
More details on our FCC filings are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-files-comments-in-fcc-orbital-debris-mitigation-proceeding/
and https://www.amsat.org/amsat-files-comments-on-fccs-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-regarding-small-satellites/
Administrative
There are several administrative and financial matters
that AMSAT must tackle. Efforts are currently underway to address these and
this work must continue. We must continue to grow AMSAT’s membership. While
membership is up considerably over the past few years, we must continue to
encourage those interested in amateur radio in space to join the organization.
We are currently in the final stages of work with a contractor on a new
membership database system that will provide us with much easier membership
management and enable us to provide online services, including a digital
version of The AMSAT Journal.
While AMSAT is solvent and running a small surplus for
the year, hardware development expenses for ARISS and GOLF have been quite
extensive. To ensure success for future projects to higher orbits, we need to
leverage our successes to secure additional streams of funding. In mid-June,
the AMSAT Board of Directors elected a new Vice President – Development who
plans to broaden AMSAT’s visibility beyond the amateur radio community and work
on grant proposals to bring in new revenue.
Summary of
Accomplishments
Over the past several years, I have served AMSAT as a
member of the Board of Directors and an Alternate Director. I have also served
as AMSAT’s Secretary and currently serve as the Executive Vice President. Below
are some examples of my work and accomplishments in these positions:
- Author of AMSAT’s comments and reply comments in two FCC rulemaking proceedings on the licensing of small satellites and orbital debris mitigation.
- Lead for AMSAT’s satellite demonstration area at the Dayton Hamvention since 2016, providing Hamvention attendees a first-hand look at communications through amateur satellites.
- Serves as a rotating AMSAT News Service Editor
- Began publishing Apogee View, previously only available in The AMSAT Journal, on the AMSAT website, giving non-members a better picture of AMSAT’s activities.
- Created the AMSAT Project Status Overview page on the AMSAT website to provide one-stop updates on AMSAT’s satellite projects.
- Started the publication of AMSAT Board of Directors meeting minutes on the AMSAT website.
- Created the AMSAT Zazzle store, raising funds for AMSAT while offering AMSAT members the opportunity to purchase a variety of customizable items bearing the AMSAT logo.
- Added a donation portal to the AMSAT website, facilitating easier designation of donations to AMSAT projects as well as recurring donations.
- Implemented automatic processing of Lifetime Membership installment plans through the AMSAT Store, replacing the previous manual process.
- Added digital download versions of prior AMSAT Symposium Proceedings to the AMSAT store, making them available for a modest donation.
- Made cosmetic improvements and updated several pages on the AMSAT website.
- Provides user account support for the AMSAT store and website.
- Maintains AMSAT’s satellite distance records page.
- Updates AMSAT’s Communications Satellites page, including frequency information for current and future satellites carrying FM repeaters or linear transponders.
- Trustee of AMSAT’s club callsign, W3ZM.
Conclusion
and Endorsements
I thank you for your consideration and, with your
support, will continue working to Keep Amateur Radio in Space. I ask that, in
addition to voting for me, that you consider supporting the following
candidates:
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Jerry has been one of AMSAT’s hardest workers. As Vice
President – Engineering, he has led the Fox project since 2014, guiding the
completion of five satellites. He has also been key in obtaining our launch
opportunities through the CubeSat Launch Initiative for GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1.
His excellent relationships with NASA officials, launch integrators, and our
university partners have helped bring about many of our upcoming opportunities.
Drew Glasbrenner,
KO4MA
Drew is also one of AMSAT’s hardest workers. In addition
to managing AMSAT’s fleet of satellites, he also negotiated our commercial
launch opportunities for AO-92 and AO-95, led our crowdfunding effort to help
finance those launches, and led AMSAT’s social media efforts for many years.
Brennan Price,
N4QX
Brennan served as the Chief Technology Officer of the
ARRL for several years. His experience in dealing with both federal and
international regulatory matters in this position would make him an excellent
addition to the AMSAT Board of Directors.
