AMSAT

Key takeaways

AMSAT belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect AMSAT to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of AMSAT from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

AMSAT is a name for various amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide. In particular, it often refers to the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate (command) satellites carrying amateur radio payloads, including the OSCAR series of satellites. Other informally affiliated national organizations exist, such as AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL) and AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT).

History AMSAT was founded in 1969 in Washington, D.C. to continue the efforts begun by Project OSCAR. Its first project was to coordinate the launch of OSCAR 5, constructed by students at the University of Melbourne. Some design modifications were needed and were made by AMSAT members, and the satellite was successfully launched on 30 January 1970, on a NASA Thor Delta launch vehicle. AMSAT's next launch was AMSAT-OSCAR 6 (AO-6) on 15 October 1972. AO-6 was AMSAT's first long-life satellite, and was built with participants from Australia and West Germany. Command stations in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Hungary, Morocco, New Zealand, the United States and West Germany controlled the satellite, contributing greatly to its 4.5 years of service. Further launches continued to emphasize international cooperation, with AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) launching with a new transponder developed and built by Karl Meinzer and AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL). AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT) contributed a transponder to AMSAT-OSCAR 8 (AO-8). In order to launch its satellites, AMSAT has worked with space agencies and commercial launch contractors to develop new ways to take advantage of unused areas of launch vehicles. In return, AMSAT sometimes can negotiate a reduction or waiver of launch costs. One of the most significant is the Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads (ASAP), developed and manufactured in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1990 for use on its Ariane 4 launch vehicle. AMSAT was again able to take advantage of unused space with the launch of AMSAT-OSCAR 40 (AO-40), occupying unused space on an Ariane 5.

IPS The IPS (Interpreter for Process Structures) programming language was specifically written for the RCA 1802 AMSAT Phase III satellite. The IPS threaded code language, developed for AMSAT Phase III, is the first known use of a high-level language on board a spacecraft. Another 16-bit IPS implementation was specifically developed to run on the ARM CPU in the IHU-2 on the AMSAT P3D. A 32-bit IPS implementation has been developed for the AMSAT P3E satellite and the AMSAT P5A mission to Mars, which also have ARM CPUs. Emulators for both the classic 16-bit and the 32-bit IPS language and development environment are available for many other systems.

AMSAT organizations worldwide

From its first launch, AMSAT projects have had international scope. By 2006, 21 countries had launched an amateur satellite. Many of these countries have their own AMSAT affiliate, some of which are noted below:

AMSAT Germany (AMSAT-DL, AMSAT Deutschland) has built and managed projects of several amateur radio satellites, notably AO-40. AMSAT Japan (JAMSAT) has contributed to many satellites, in addition to launching its own satellites in cooperation with JAXA: the Fuji-OSCAR series. AMSAT India (AMSAT-IN) launched its first amateur satellite, VUSat-OSCAR 52 in 2005 aboard an Indian Space Research Organisation PSLV launch vehicle from Sriharikota, India. AMSAT United Kingdom (AMSAT-UK) built FUNcube AO-73 with AMSAT-NL, an Amateur CubeSat that was launched as part of a Russian Dnepr payload in November 2013. AMSAT Italia (AMSAT-I) has built the HAMVIDEO TV transmitter for International Space Station and IO-117 (Italy-Oscar 117) first amateur radio satellite in MEO orbit. AMSAT-CT is NGO for Education and Development is Portuguese VIP member of AMSAT-DL, funded by Aerospace Observatory in 1998 AMSAT-CT develop the prototype of the satellite CAMOESat-1 at Oeiras Aerospace Observatory facilities AMSAT-NL Netherlands AMSAT Brazil AMSAT Philippines (AMSAT-PH), club call sign DX1O, Diwata-2 satellite is designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) and has the amateur call sign DW4TA. AMSAT Spain (AMSAT EA), designed and built the radio-amateur satellites GENESIS-L, GENESIS-N, EASAT-2 and HADES, all of them pocketQubes. AMSAT New Zealand (AMSAT-ZL) developed kiwiSAT, intended to be New Zealand's first satellite. It designed and built by New Zealand radio amateurs supported by Massey University (Auckland) and various corporate sponsors. The project began in 2003, but encountered many delays and setbacks, and was eventually dissolved in 2023.

Phase system The AMSAT Phase system describes an amateur satellite based upon its capabilities or mode of operation and roughly parallel the development of amateur satellites.

Phase 1: No solar cells (battery-powered only), short-lived, technology test-bed. Must be able to orbit to be classified as a satellite. Phase 2: Long life using solar cells, communications capabilities, Low Earth Orbit. Phase 3: Long life, more powerful communications, telemetry and command systems. Highly elliptical orbit, usually a Molniya orbit; usually the initial orbit is a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), onboard propulsion systems boosting it to its final orbit. Because of the highly elliptical orbit, the satellite remains over an area for long periods of time, allowing amateurs longer contacts through the satellite. Phase 4: Amateur satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO). Currently, the only amateur radio transponders in orbit are a secondary mission aboard Es'hail 2, designated as QO-100 by AMSAT on 26 February 2019. Phase 5: Spacecraft capable of lunar or planetary missions.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with AMSAT

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what AMSAT claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to AMSAT before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about AMSAT ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of AMSAT

In research: AMSAT appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses AMSAT in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: AMSAT is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1969 establishments in Maryland, Amateur radio organizations, Organizations established in 1969, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for AMSAT outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study AMSAT in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what AMSAT means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain AMSAT out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is AMSAT in simple terms?

AMSAT is a name for various amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide. In particular, it often refers to the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Why does AMSAT matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study AMSAT?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on AMSAT.