Location
Holiday Inn, Manatee Room A
Start Date
29-4-1997 2:00 PM
Description
AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, has launched over 30 amateur radio satellites. Most have flown as piggyback payloads where excess payload capacity was not required. Many have flown as test payloads for new launch vehicles on their test flights. The Phase 3-D satellite is scheduled for launch in the second half of 1997 as the primary payload for the Ariane 502 launch vehicle. This paper will discuss the risks and tradeoffs associated with flying on an unproven launch vehicle, insurance issues, and past successes and failures for those 30 satellites.
Paper Session I-A - Risks and Trade-Offs for Unproven Launch Vehicles
Holiday Inn, Manatee Room A
AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, has launched over 30 amateur radio satellites. Most have flown as piggyback payloads where excess payload capacity was not required. Many have flown as test payloads for new launch vehicles on their test flights. The Phase 3-D satellite is scheduled for launch in the second half of 1997 as the primary payload for the Ariane 502 launch vehicle. This paper will discuss the risks and tradeoffs associated with flying on an unproven launch vehicle, insurance issues, and past successes and failures for those 30 satellites.