Tuesday, August 11, 2020

AMSAT-DL Wants to Put a Ham Transponder on the Moon

 

Artist's rendering of the European Space Agency's proposed Large European Lander on the moon.
AMSAT-DL has submitted a proposal to include an amateur radio transponder on the lander.
(ESA image)


 

 If Germany's amateur satellite organization gets its wish, EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communications could get a signal boost. According to the ARRL Letter, AMSAT-DL has submitted to the European Space Agency a comprehensive proposal to include an amateur radio transponder on ESA's planned Large European Lander project. The proposed LunART (Luna Amateur Radio Transponder) platform would have an uplink on 2.4 GHz and downlink on 10.45 GHz, with beacons on a variety of other bands, and a second transponder on VHF/UHF. There is no indication as to when or how ESA might respond to the proposal.