AMSAT Elects Officers, Sets New Goals, at Annual Meeting

The AMSAT board of directors elected or re-elected officers to new terms leading the amateur radio satellite program. Robert Bankston, KE4AL, was re-elected President. He is joined by Vice Presidents Paul Stoetzer, N8HM (Executive VP); Jerry Buxton, N0JY (Engineering); Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA (Operations); Alan Johnston, KU2Y (Education), and Frank Karnauskas, N1UW (Development); as well as Secretary Jeff Davis, KE9V, and Treasurer Steve Belter, N9IP. There were no candidates for VP of Member Services.

According to the AMSAT News Service, the board also adopted a new policy on working within federal “ITAR” (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) guidelines to resume cooperative efforts with AMSAT groups in other countries. ITAR greatly restricts export of military-related technologies, including satellite technology.

Technical discussion at the board meeting was focused on development of a flight platform that could speed up testing of critical components, according to ANS. The test platform could be launched into short-duration, low-orbit, flights that would be sufficient to verify system operation for insertion into longer duration projects.