27 Feb 2017

Geosynchronous amateur satellite delay

A few weeks ago, sorry I cannot remember where, I read that the Qatar amateur satellite, due to be placed in a geosynchronous orbit, has been delayed by a year. This means its launch is now due in 2018 and not this spring.

As the solar activity is likely to be low for a long time, a geosynchronous amateur transponder could be very useful. I certainly hope it is successfully launched in 2018.

The satellite I am thinking about was to have been a Middle-East one with coverage of Europe, Asia and Africa. A separate design covering the USA and just some of Europe was announced by AMSAT-NA last year.

UPDATE 1042z: See https://amsat-uk.org/2014/09/21/eshail-2-ham-radio-transponders/ and https://www.eshailsat.qa/ and https://www.eshailsat.qa/en/satellites .

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