AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-049

In this edition:

* SpaceX Delays Crew-8 Astronaut Launch to Make Way for Private Moon Missio
n * Upcoming Rideshare Launch to Include Amateur Payloads
* Bill Introduced to Eliminate Private Land Use Restrictions on Amateur
Radio
* Small Launch Companies Seek Niches to Compete With SpaceX Rideshare
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for February 16
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

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ANS-049 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
>From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 Feb 18
SpaceX Delays Crew-8 Astronaut Launch to Make Way for Private Moon Mission

NASA’s next astronaut launch will delay nearly a week to let a moon
mission
leave Earth first.

NASA’s Crew-8 astronauts, who will launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon,
will fly
to space no earlier than Feb. 28. The delay from Feb. 22 will make room for
the expected launch of Intuitive Machines’ moon lander from the sam
e launch
pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Odysseus, a robotic lunar lander built by the Houston-based company
Intuitive Machines, lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA�
��s
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida early in the morning on Thursday,
Feb. 15.

If all goes according to plan, Odysseus (designated IM-1) will touch down
near the moon’s south pole on Feb. 22, becoming the first-ever priv
ate
spacecraft to ace a lunar landing. Success would also be a big deal for the
United States, which hasn’t been to the lunar surface since NASA�
��s Apollo
17 mission more than half a century ago.

“NASA and SpaceX will continue to assess Crew-8 readiness and may a
djust
the Crew-8 launch date following a successful IM-1 launch,” agency
officials wrote in a statement on Feb. 13, while announcing the delay. The
astronaut mission will serve as relief for Crew-7, which flew to space on
Aug. 26 for an International Space Station mission expected to last six or
seven months.

*SpaceX Crew-8 crew. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander
Grebenkin, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ, NASA astronaut Matthew
Dominick, KCØTOR, and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU.*

Crew-8 includes NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, KCØTOR (commander),
Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ (pilot), and Jeanette Epps, KF5QNU (mission
specialist), along with Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist
Alexander Grebenkin.

Both the ISS crew and the IM-1 launch are using a pad SpaceX leases at
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The moon mission has a fairly narrow l
aunch
window as the IM-1 lander needs specific landing conditions to land at the
lunar south pole, which is part of why the launch date for Crew-8 may be
adjusted.

Crew-8, as the name implies, is the eighth crewed operational mission by
SpaceX that sends commercial crews to the ISS on NASA’s behalf. Sta
rliner,
the second vendor, may fly its first test crew in mid-April 2024.

[ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]
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------------------------------
Upcoming Rideshare Launch to Include Amateur Payloads

The SpaceX F9 Transporter-10 Rideshare mission has been scheduled for
launch on 1 March 2024. In addition to a half dozen commercial payloads,
two amateur satellites are on the launch manifest: SONATE-2 from Germany
and CroCube from Croatia.

*SONATE-2*

SONATE-2 is a 6U+ CubeSat designed and built by the University of Wuerzburg
in Germany. As for many university satellites, the mission objectives of
the SONATE-2 satellite can be divided into three different parts:
– The operation of an amateur radio payload
– The development and operation of the satellite for the education
of
students.
– The operation of a novel payload as a technology demonstration in
space.

The amateur payload of SONATE-2 consists of a VHF transceiver that was
already built for the predecessor mission SONATE over the course of several
student theses. For SONATE-2 additional student theses extended the
transceiver functionalities. It will provide regular SSTV downlinks with
images from the optical sensors included in the AI payload as well as an
APRS digipeater and CW beacon.

On the education side, the mission will serve as a foundation for different
aspects of the university aerospace and computer science engineering
program. In the context of practical courses, theses or as student
assistants, students can participate in the development of all subsystems
of the space and ground segment, including the amateur radio payload and
the technology demonstration payload. In the context of mandatory lectures
and exercises on space operations every student will also be included in
the operations of the satellite. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) offers a
School Lab for high school students at the location of our external ground
station in Neustrelitz, Germany.

Besides experiments on space and satellites, the School Lab includes
amateur radio contacts to the ISS under the supervision of licensed local
radio amateurs, which they wish to extend to other satellites like in this
cooperation with the SONATE-2 mission.

In addition to the amateur and educational mission parts, the SONATE-2
mission also has a research objective for the demonstration of novel
artificial intelligence technology in the space environments. While the AI
payload is mainly operated using a separate up/downlink in the space
operation service in S-band, the satellite bus and the amateur payloads are
operated in the amateur service. Housekeeping telemetry in the amateur
service also contains status information of the non-amateur payload.

Proposing CW, SSTV using Martin M1 and APRS downlinks on VHF and a 9k6
G3RUH AX25 telemetry downlink on UHF. Planning a launch into a 550 km
Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). More info at https://go.uniwue.de/hk.
Downlinks on 437.025 MHz, 145.825 MHz, 145.840 MHz and 145.880 MHz have
been coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

*CroCube*

CroCube is a 1U CubeSat mission to support the Croatian, but also worldwide
amateur radio community with many HAM services and activities. The
mission’s goal is also to facilitate the technological development
of
Croatia, create an advanced society focused on prosperity and innovation,
and increase participation in the global space sector. Also, drive Croatia
into the space era, increase interest in astronomy and space projects, and
develop STEM and tech entrepreneurship, create a platform for founding a
space center in Croatia, increase investments and employment in robotics,
technology and ICT and finally reduce unemployment and prevent brain drain.

The CroCube satellite is designed for HAM radio activities. The main
purpose is to provide services for radio amateurs in Croatia and worldwide,
and also for students of technical universities to get hands-on experience
with satellite communication and get radioamateur licences. One of the
project goals is to popularize HAM activities across the common population,
students and children in Croatia.

CroCube will provide these HAM services:
– AX.25 telemetry
– CW beacon – Digipeater
– Anniversary/special occasions AX.25 & CW messages for community e
ngagement
– Experimental SSDV transmissions
– SATNOGS integration, decoder, dashboard

Proposing a UHF downlink using 9k6 G3RUH GFSK with AX25 telemetry. Planning
an Exolaunch deployment into a 510 km SSO. More info at
https://drustvo-evo.hr . A downlink on 436.775 MHz has been coordinated by
IARU.

[ANS thanks Libre Space, Jan van Gils, PE0SAT, and IARU for the above
information]
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------------------------------
Bill Introduced to Eliminate Private Land Use Restrictions on Amateur Radio