Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Ham Station on the Moon?

If all goes according to plan (which is never certain when it comes to space flight), there will soon be a ham station on the surface of the moon, transmitting a beacon in the 70-centimeter band. According to the AMSAT News Service, the Japanese OMOTENASHI cubesat is scheduled to be deployed into lunar orbit by NASA’s Space Launch System on the Artemis launch, which at press time was scheduled for its third liftoff attempt in late September or early October. For details and updates, visit the OMOTENASHI website at <https://tinyurl.com/4rrtw39h>.

Two Genesis satellites built by AMSAT-EA in Spain are scheduled to launch on the commercial Firefly booster rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch, originally scheduled for early September, was scrubbed twice due to weather conditions, and is now awaiting rescheduling. If successfully orbited, the two satellites will provide FM voice and AFSK/FSK repeaters, including packet and APRS capabilities.