From ANS-299:
At the Annual General Meeting of AMSAT members, held as part of the AMSAT Symposium in Phoenix, Ariz. last weekend, newly elected AMSAT President Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, outlined some future directions for the organization.
Noting that membership in organizations and voluntary associations of all types has been declining across the board, in all areas of society, Glasbrenner suggested a two-pronged approach.
First, reduce the cost per member. AMSAT has already made major steps in that direction, by closing the office and changing to an all-volunteer administration, and also by changing the AMSAT Journal from print to a digital publication. The organization should seek more opportunities to economize.
Second, increase membership by creating a strategy to actively seek and invite new hams. The Board has just approved a free student membership to bring young hams into the organization. Reinstating a College Activity Night on the satellites, an AMSAT Youth Net, and publicizing youth satellite activities are priorities. Another possibility might be a two-tiered membership structure with a low-fee introductory membership.
Glasbrenner also noted that government budget cuts have caused NASA to eliminate the CubeSat Launch Initiative program (CSLI), which provided free launch opportunities to educational projects. AMSAT has benefited from CSLI, but has also purchased commercial launches in the past. He indicated that AMSAT should not wait to see if CSLI is reinstated or replaced with a similar program, but that the organization should move forward to fund commercial launches for GOLF-Tee and Fox Plus satellites that are nearing readiness in coming months.
Another challenge facing AMSAT is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). While orbital debris regulations forbid launches to higher orbits without meeting stringent technical requirements for deorbiting, reentry devices are largely unavailable or unproven. The GOLF program is meant to address this, but launches to higher orbits are also difficult to find. Future rules may mandate propulsion for collision avoidance in LEO.
A strategy to meet these orbital challenges is to focus on developing amateur radio payloads that can fly on other satellites. The Italian Greencube satellite, IO-117, was an example. To take advantage of these opportunities, AMSAT engineers must focus on developing payloads as a series, rather than as single projects, so that units are “on the shelf” and available on short notice. The SDR Gen2 transverter board – an updated version of the units flown on HuskySat and MESAT1 – is a major step in this direction, as is the updated PacSat board under development. The GOLF and Fox Plus programs are also being crafted to create satellites in a series with iterative improvements and an up-tempo launch cadence.
Finally, Glasbrenner called for strengthening international collaboration with other AMSAT organizations around the world, as well as establishing mechanisms for strategic planning at the Board of Directors level. His address was received enthusiastically by those in attendance.
[ANS thanks Mark Johns, KØJM, News Service Senior Editor, for the above information.]