When the AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, its expected lifespan was about five years. The plucky little satellite made it to 1981 when a battery failure caused it …
I work for a lab in the US. We do a lot of things, but among them space and defense. Literal rocket scientists. A lot of old-school hackers. Like not Hollywood movie “hackers”, I mean the type of people that take great pleasure in making something functional out of miscellaneous junk.
Among them, there is a surprisingly large number of licensed hams. Myself included.
Idk where I’m going with this. But there’s an overlap between “space nerds”, “radio nerds”, and “tech macgyvers”, so they find a way.
There are cubesats nowadays, you can get one up in low orbit for a couple of thousands of dollars. It won’t last long as the one in the article though, in low orbit it will somehow quickly fall down and burn up in the atmosphere. Months I guess.
How does an amateur radio satellite get made? How does it get launched?
Who pays for that? No /s. Genuinly interested.
I work for a lab in the US. We do a lot of things, but among them space and defense. Literal rocket scientists. A lot of old-school hackers. Like not Hollywood movie “hackers”, I mean the type of people that take great pleasure in making something functional out of miscellaneous junk.
Among them, there is a surprisingly large number of licensed hams. Myself included.
Idk where I’m going with this. But there’s an overlap between “space nerds”, “radio nerds”, and “tech macgyvers”, so they find a way.
There are cubesats nowadays, you can get one up in low orbit for a couple of thousands of dollars. It won’t last long as the one in the article though, in low orbit it will somehow quickly fall down and burn up in the atmosphere. Months I guess.
Kind of cool though.
Ham radio networks were considered part of usa civil defense strategy and a means to keep communications going during disasters.