Amateur Radio On The International Space Station
What is ARISS
The Amateur Radio On the International Space Station (ARISS) program lets students worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio science technology through amateur radio. The ARISS program was created and is managed by an international consortium of amateur radio organizations and space agencies including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA, Rosaviakosmos in Russia, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in Canada, Japan Aeronautics Exploration Space Agency (JAXA) in Japan and European Space Agency (ESA) in Europe.
Goals of the ARISS Program
 Inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and in STEM careers among young people;
Provide an educational opportunity for students, teachers and the general public to learn about space exploration, space technologies and satellite communications;
Provide an educational opportunity for students, teachers and the general public to learn about wireless technology and radio science through Amateur Radio
Provide an opportunity for Amateur Radio experimentation and evaluation of new technologies.
Provide a contingency communications system for NASA and the ISS crew.
Provide crew with another means to directly interact with a larger community outside the ISS, including friends and family.
Radio Contacts with the ISS
Scheduled ARISS Amateur Radio contacts with the ISS are conducted either by direct contact, or by telebridge contact. The method used will depend on the radio station equipment and experienced radio amateur volunteers available to support the contact as well as technical issues related to the orbit of the ISS over the contact location.
Because the ARISS program supports the testing and installation of amateur radio stations aboard the ISS, astronauts have the equipment available to also make unscheduled ham radio contacts with radio amateurs all around the world on a one-to-one basis during their personal time. With a very limited investment in amateur radio equipment, licensed hams, including students who have access to amateur radio stations in a classroom, can make individual contact with astronauts aboard the ISS by learning to follow the published orbital schedule and practice some basic amateur radio contact techniques.
If you are interested in putting in an application for a school contact with the ISS, please send an email to our Australian ARISS team ariss@ wia.org.au
History
ARISS, or Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ISS), was formed to design, build and operate Amateur Radio equipment in space for educational purposes.
Amateur Radio was a regular payload on Shuttle missions beginning with the STS-9 mission in November 1983, when Owen Garriott, W5LFL, carried a hand-held ham radio aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. The Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) provided students with the unique opportunity to talk directly with astronauts in the Shuttle while they orbited the Earth traveling 17,000 miles per hour. With the help of Amateur Radio operators, students could attempt to contact the astronauts flying on a SAREX mission through voice, packet (computer) radio, or television, depending on which equipment configuration the Shuttle takes into space. Through voice communication students asked questions about the experiments being conducted on the mission and what it is like living in space. When the astronauts were asleep, a robot computer Amateur Radio station aboard the Shuttle made contact with hundreds of hams around the world. Students could track the Shuttle's orbit using computer software, "eavesdrop" on Shuttle communications, and listen to NASA mission commentary and bulletins about astronaut-planned transmissions.
In 1996, delegates from major national Amateur Radio organizations, such as ARRL, and from national Amateur Radio satellite organizations, such as AMSAT, in the eight nations involved with the international space station, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form ARISS.
NASA and the Russian space organization Energia have signed agreements that spell out where the physical location of the Amateur Radio equipment will be set up on the ISS. A technical team was officially established by NASA to serve as the interface to support hardware development, crew training and on-orbit operations.
In the United States, the ARRL and AMSAT provide leadership and consultation. AMSAT donates and builds hardware as well as ensuring all safety and qualification tests required by the space agencies are successfully completed so the equipment can fly. The Russians provided ports for antennas that were mounted on the station's Zvezda Service Module -- the space station unit that provides living quarters for the astronauts and cosmonauts.
United States and Russian teams have trained astronauts and cosmonauts to operate the equipment. The Italian team has designed and built antennas. The German team has built sophisticated repeater stations that will allow crews to make recorded reports on their daily activities and permit hams on Earth better contacts with men and women aboard the station. The Italian team has designed and built antennas, and most recently conceived and engineered the new HamTV system in process of deployment.
The sponsoring agencies have stated that they consider access to a ham radio system a psychological support for the crews, providing them with a way to be connected and to do public outreach while they are detached in space for many weeks at a time. In addition, Amateur Radio is a platform that allows astronauts, to quote NASA, "to offer an educational resource to students as only NASA can." Amateur Radio provides a contingency communications network for the ISS as well.
For more about the early deployment of ham radio in space and with the predecessor SAREX program, read the story as told by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, for the 30th anniversary celebration of amateur radio on human spaceflight missions. Link
International Partners and Participants
ARISS is managed by an international team that is supported by national space agencies, national Amateur Radio societies, and national Amateur Radio satellite organizations.
The following International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) societies and Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) organizations participate in ARISS.
Belgium: Union Royale Belge Des Amateurs-Emetteurs (UBA) , AMSAT-Belgium
Canada: Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), AMSAT-NA
France: Reseau des Emetteurs Francais (REF-Union), AMSAT Francophone
Germany: Deutscher Amateur Radio Club e. V. (DARC)
Italy: Associazione Radioamatori Italioni (ARI), AMSAT-Italia
Japan: Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL), JAMSAT
Lebanon: Radio Amateurs of Lebanon (RAL)
Malta: Malta Amateur Radio League (MARL)
Netherlands: Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland VERON
Poland: Polski Zwiazek Krotkofalowcow (PZK)
Portugal: Rede dos Emissores Portugueses (REP)
Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR), AMSAT-RU
Sweden: AMSAT-SM
Switzerland: Union Schweizerisscher Kurzwellen-Amateure USKA
United Kingdom: Radio Society of Great Britain RSGB, AMSAT-UK
USA: American Radio Relay League (ARRL), AMSAT-NA
The following space agencies are ARISS partners.
Canada: Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
Europe: European Space Agency (ESA), including participating members:
Belgium: Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BSPO)
Denmark: Danish National Space Center (DNSC)
France: Centre national d'etudes spatiales / National Centre for Space Studies ( CNES)
Germany: Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
Italy: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana / The Italian Space Agency (ASI)
Netherlands: Netherlands Space Office (NSO)
Norway: Norwegian Space Centre (NSC)
Spain: Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI)
Sweden: Swedish National Space Board (SNSB)
Switzerland: State Secretariat for Education and Research (SERI)
United Kingdom: UK Space Agency (UKSA)
Japan: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Russia: Russian Federal Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos)
USA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
ARISS Organization
Regional Representatives
Regional representatives are the designated point of contact for each ARISS region.There are five ARISS regions worldwide, each represented by one of the ARISS international partners.
To learn more about amateur radio and to locate amateur radio groups/resources near you, please contact your regional ARISS representative. Should you have questions about participation in the ARISS program and your country is listed among those below, please send your questions to the contact representative listed there. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator.
ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Chester (Chet) Latawiec, VE3CFK, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of North America, Canada
ARISS-Europe and IARU Region 1 including Africa, Middle East and Northern Asia: Francesco DePaolis, IK0WGF, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of Italy (AMSAT-Italia)
ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL)
ARISS-Russia: Tatiana Kolmykova, Southwest State University, Kursk, Russian Federation
ARISS-USA: The American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
Regional ARISS Information
For a list and links to multi-lingual informational ARISS websites hosted by ARISS partners, click this Link
ARISS Operations Team
The ARISS Operations Team is made up of ARISS Technical Mentors, scheduling/technical representatives, and an orbital prediction specialist. An ARISS Operations Lead is selected from within the ranks on a periodic basis. This group meets weekly by telephone conference and much more frequently via e-mail and telephone. ARISS Technical Mentors are the experienced radio amateur volunteers who work with the schools, teachers, and local Amateur Radio groups that actually make the contacts with the ISS. Scheduling/technical representatives work within the space agencies, primarily NASA in the USA and the Russian Space Agency, to secure the final schedules for the contacts. These scheduling representatives also coordinate training of the Astronauts in the use of the equipment on board the ISS and procedures for its use. The orbital prediction specialist does the long and short term predictions necessary to support the scheduling of all of the contacts.
ARISS Governance
The ARISS organization is a working group of its member societies governed by the Terms of Reference adopted by the member societies. The organization is governed by a group of ARISS International Working Group delegates from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the USA. Delegates are chosen from the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporations (AMSATs) of the world, the National Amateur Radio Organizations (such as ARRL), and the Space Agencies of the world. These delegates meet via monthly telephone conferences, and from time to time in face-to-face meetings. In between, activities are coordinated by e-mail and additional telephone conferences as necessary. These delegates set the policy (with advice from the space agencies) for operation, coordinate equipment for the ISS, coordinate with education organizations, coordinate school selection for contacts, and provide oversight to the ARISS Operations Team.
Review recent minutes of International Working Group meetings.
Archived minutes of International Working Group face-to-face meetings and teleconferences are also available.
ARISS Officers
Chairman: Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
Vice Chairman: Oliver Amend, DG6BCE
Secretary: Rosalie White, K1STO
ARISS Delegates
AUSTRALIA
Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI
CANADA
TBD, Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC)
Chester (Chet) Latawiec, VE3CFK, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of North America
EUROPE
Oliver Amend, DG6BCE, Deutscher Amateur Radio Club e. V. (DARC)
Jean Pierre Courjaud, F6DZP, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of France (AMSAT-Francophone)
Emanuele D'Andria, I0ELE, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of Italy (AMSAT-Italia)
Bertus Hasken, PE1KEH, Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (VERON)
JAPAN
Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL)
Masanobu Tsuji, JH2PRZ, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of Japan (JAMSAT)
RUSSIA
Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, Energia/ Russian Federal Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos)
Tatiana Kolmykova, Southwest State University, Kursk, Russian Federation
USA
Rosalie White, K1STO, American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
Dave Taylor, W8AAS, Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation of North America, US (AMSAT-NA)
Further Information
Further information can be found on the official ARISS website http://www.ariss.org
Click this Link to visit the site.
Page Last Updated: Sunday, 22 Mar 2020 at 11:20 hours by Webmaster
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