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AMSAT News Service

ANS-263
September 20, 2026

In this edition:

* AMSAT Board of Directors Election Results
* Call for Presentations: 44th AMSAT Space Symposium
* AO-7 Again Captures Attention
* Binar-567 CubeSat Trio Prepared for Launch
* LEO.space Free Platform for Tracking Satellites
* NASA’s Moon Orbiter Spots ‘Once-in-Century’ Crater 
* Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for Sept. 18, 2026
* Three U.S. Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
* ARISS News
* 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 https://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

You can 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/

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AMSAT Board of Directors Election Results

The following were elected to the three expiring seats of the Board of Directors:

• Paul Stoetzer
• Rich Gopstein
• Mark Hammond

The following were elected as noted:

• Douglas Tabor, First Alternate
• Bruce Paige, Second Alternate

On September 16, 2026, Barry Baines formally tendered his resignation from the Board for personal reasons.

The Board officially consists of the following 7 members:

• Jerry Buxton
• Drew Glasbrenner
• Rich Gopstein
• Mark Hammond
• Frank Karnauskas
• Paul Stoetzer
• Douglas Tabor

By my hand on September 19, 2026,

Douglas Tabor
AMSAT Secretary

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Call for Presentations: 44th AMSAT Space Symposium

Do you have a story to tell the amateur satellite community? AMSAT invites proposals for presentations at the 44th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, to be held October 8-11, 2026, at the Wyndham Jacksonville Hotel & Conference Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

Presentations are welcome on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. Suggested subjects include current and future satellite projects such as the GOLF program and the CubeSatSim; ARISS and human spaceflight activities; ground station, antenna, and portable station design; software-defined radio; telemetry collection and analysis; satellite operating techniques and achievements; educational programs and youth outreach; and reports from DXpeditions and roving operations. Whether you have built it, flown it, coded it, taught it, or worked it through a satellite, your fellow attendees want to hear about it.

Prospective presenters should email a tentative presentation title and a brief abstract to symposium [at] amsat.org as soon as possible. Presentation time slots are limited, so early submissions are encouraged, and information on submitting final papers and presentation materials for inclusion in the Symposium Proceedings will be provided to presenters. A digital copy of the Proceedings is included with every Symposium registration.

Symposium presentations begin Friday afternoon, October 9, and continue through Saturday, October 10, leading into the Annual General Meeting. Live streaming will bring the sessions to members unable to attend in person – all the more reason to make sure your work is on the program.

Registration for the Symposium is now open at https://launch.amsat.org/event-6789663, with early bird pricing available through September 8. Hotel reservations at the Wyndham Jacksonville – the property formerly known as the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Airport/I-95 – may be made through the booking link at https://www.amsat.org/2026-amsat-symposium/ or by phone at 1-800-227-6963 using group code AMS.

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information.]

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Registration is Now Open!

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AO-7 Again Captures Attention

AMSAT OSCAR 7, the amateur satellite launched in 1974 but operational yet today, has once again gained the attention of the media. Historians and fans of space lore have often focused on the story of AO-7, one of the oldest — if not the oldest — satellite of any type to remain in operation a half century after its commissioning. Yet another space journalist has discovered the story and published an article about our venerable repeater in the sky.

Lachlan Brown, Editor-in-Chief and a Co-Publisher of Space Daily, an online technical news outlet that has published continuously since 1995, posted a new article on September 17 that recounts the history of the satellite. The full article is available at https://spacedaily.com/t-ao-7-amateur-radio-satellite-returned-after-21-years/.

As Brown notes, “AO-7 worked for more than six years, well beyond the two-year design life commonly given for the mission. Then it went silent in mid-1981.” As was typical of satellites designed and built in that era, the bird had succumbed to a shorted battery pack.

Radio amateur Pat Gowen, G3IOR, happened to hear a CW transmission in June of 2002 that was later confirmed to be the telemetry beacon of OSCAR 7. Apparently the repeated cycles of heating and cooling satellites experience when moving between sunlight and eclipse had cause the shorted batteries to become an open circuit. This allowed the solar panels to supply current to the satellite’s electronics directly. Experiments proved that not only the beacon, but also the transponders, could be operational.

AO-7 continues to be “semi-operational.” That is, when it is in sunlight one or the other of its transponders becomes active. Control of the satellite is limited, and overly strong signals on the uplink can create power drains that cause the satellite to change modes, and could potentially do more permanent damage.

An article in the recent, July/August 2026 issue of The AMSAT Journal, written by Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, documents that mode timers and other basic functions of AO-7 continue to operate as designed. It is only abuse by careless operators transmitting excessively strong signals to the satellite that cause the mode changes that have been observed. AMSAT members can access the Journal by logging into the Member Portal on the AMSAT website, https://launch.amsat.org/.

The lengthy Space Daily retrospective is only one of a number of articles celebrating AMSAT OSCAR 7 in recent years, particularly since the 50th anniversary of its launch in 2024. The old bird continues to inspire the awe of space fans, the interest of journalists, and the attention of radio amateurs. With care and responsible operating, amateur will hopefully be able to continue to enjoy the use of AO-7 for many years.

[ANS thanks Space Daily and The AMSAT Journal for the above information.]

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Annual memberships start at only $120

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

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NASA’s Moon Orbiter Spots ‘Once-in-Century’ Crater

It started as a routine data-quality check. But as Robert Wagner, a scientist with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scanned a giant Moon map on his computer screen, an unusually large bright spot circled by a dark halo caught his eye, as it implied that surface material in that area had been shaken up.

“I just stopped, dropped everything, and started looking into what that spot was,” said Wagner, an image-processing specialist from Intuitive Machines who works with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) system.

Side view (55 degrees away from straight down) of McGetchin – Image: NASA

By comparing before and after images of the Moon, Wagner realized he had discovered the largest, newly formed crater ever found in the solar system, as scientists reported Wednesday in Science Advances. This discovery highlights the value of NASA’s Moon orbiter data in studying a dynamic landscape as the agency advances a sustained human presence and expanded scientific and commercial activity on the Moon.

Officially named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, the crater formed on the Moon’s eastern edge sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, after a comet or asteroid the size of a three- to six-story building hit the surface.

The crash left a crater, 728 feet wide, that spans the length of two football fields. And at 141 feet deep, the crater could fit three vertically stacked yellow school buses.

Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer.

The LROC system collects images from about 60 miles above the Moon as LRO loops from pole to pole. The system includes two cameras that capture high‑resolution black‑and‑white images and one camera for moderate‑resolution multispectral images. Over the years and thousands of passes, scientists have built maps detailed enough to spot not only new craters, but also landslides, landers, seismic faults, and even hints of lava tubes.

LROC scientists regularly analyze close-up images of small portions of the Moon’s surface taken by the Narrow-Angle Camera. Using these images, they look for changes that are typically less than 30 feet across. But every few years the team searches for large (wider than 150 feet) features by creating global Moon maps and comparing them to older versions.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information. Read the full story at https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-moon-orbiter-spots-new-once-in-century-moon-crater/.]

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Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for Sept. 18, 2026

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/.

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

General Perturbations Data Support

AMSAT is pleased to announce that modern forms of what are called General Perturbations data are being disseminated via modern formats including JSON, XML and KVN at https://newark192.amsat.org/gpdata/current/. The reason this change is being made is that we are running out of 5-digit catalog numbers and the TLE format is not viable for satellites launched after July of this year. See https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php for details.

These data are presently considered in beta test for the next two months while hosted on the test server newark192.amsat.org, and we are very open to community feedback at webmaster at amsat.org. Testers may experience outages and errors while we make improvements. We intend to put this into production on our main web server in July as we expect that satellites launched after this summer will require one of the new formats to accommodate longer object numbers. AMSAT will continue to publish TLE bulletins for satellites launched before July 2026 indefinitely.

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

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Three U.S. Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce that 3 additional US schools have been selected for ARISS contacts in 2026 and 2027. These schools submitted proposals during the recent proposal window and have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

ARISS USA is announcing selections for ham radio contacts with the ISS crew during the Fall 2026 through June, 2027. They are now at work starting to implement their 4–6-month education plan which was outlined in their proposal. These STEAM based educational activities help prepare students for their contact as well as create an on-going exploration and interest in aerospace and amateur radio topics. They are also completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by ARISS, the final selected schools will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

 

The schools are:

• The Archdiocese of Atlanta Catholic Schools
• Dresden Elementary in Dresden, Ohio
• The University of Texas at Austin’s Women in STEM – STEM Girls Day event

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the ISS. In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN) and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org.

[ANS thanks the Dave Jordan, AA4KN, of the ARISS PR Team for the above information.]

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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.

Upcoming Contacts

MAOU “School No. 200, Belogorsk, Russia, direct via TBD  
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS 
The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev
The ARISS mentor is RV3DR   
Contact is go for Tue 2026-09-22 08:15 UTC

Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital, Charlotte, NC, telebridge via ON4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Jack Hathaway KJ5NIV
The ARISS mentor is K4RGK
Contact is go for: Wed 2026-09-23 16:51:34 UTC 80 degrees maximum elevation

Collège Roger Martin du Gard, Belleme, France, direct via F6KCO
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled crewmember is Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN
The ARISS mentor is F6ICS  
Contact is go for: Fri 2026-09-25 13:38:43 UTC 38 degrees maximum elevation

Many times, a school makes a last-minute decision to do a Livestream or runs into a last-minute glitch requiring a change of the URL, but we at ARISS may not get the URL in time for publication. You can always check https://live.ariss.org/ to see if a school is Livestreaming.

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

The crossband repeater remains configured in the Columbus Module (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). If a crewmember decides to pick up the microphone and turn up the volume, you may hear them on the air—so keep listening, as you never know when activity might occur.

​Kenwood D710GA in the Zvezda Service Module – Call sign RSØISS. Please note we’re still in the process of troubleshooting and testing this radio. APRS is currently active on 437.825 MHz. Feel free to check out status reports at https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_APRS/.

Ham TV is currently scheduled to power up Wed 2026-09-23 17:10 UTC at 2395.00 MHz.

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]

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Give Your Next Rove a Payload — Put Your Lunch into Orbit!

Pack the rover dogs and hit the grid line with an all-new
AMSAT Round Logo Metal Lunchbox.

Keep Amateur Radio in Space — and your lunch in the box!

https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_round_logo_metal_lunchbox-256761530568368967

 

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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.

November 14, 2026
Southern Arizona Fall Hamfest
Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club
Marana Middle School
11285 W. Grier Rd.
Marana AZ
https://www.tucsonhamradio.org/hamfest
N1UW

Interested in becoming an AMSAT Ambassador? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. For more information go to: https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/

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

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Satellite Shorts from All Over

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

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

• Societies (recognized groups, clubs or organization).
• Students are eligible for FREE membership up to age 25.
• 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. AMSAT is a registered trademark of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation.