AO-40
Encyclopedia
AO-40 is the on-orbit name designation of an amateur radio
satellite
(AMSAT
) of the OSCAR
series; formerly known as Phase 3D.
The Project Manager was Peter Guelzow (amateur radio call sign
DB2OS) of AMSAT Germany
(AMSAT-DL).
After the launch of AO-13, design commenced for a Phase 4 satellite. This idea was later shelved, and design of Phase 3D (on-orbit name: AO-40) was undertaken under direction of the project team based in Germany, involving amateur radio
payloads from many countries in Europe
.
Assembly was done at AMSAT's Spacecraft Integration Facility in the 'Free Trade Zone Building' at the Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
from 1994 to 2000.
It was launched on 16 November 2000, on an Ariane 5
launch vehicle from Kourou
, in French Guiana
, and reported cost was 4.5 Million USD.
, transmissions from AO-40 ceased during the exercising of its 400 newton motor. The Command Team were able to infer that there had been an explosion caused by pressure in the propellant pipes caused by malfunction of the control valves. A protective cap that was supposed to be removed from the motor before launch, was inadvertently left in place. When the motor was fired, pressure built up where it shouldn't, and destructive failure occurred. The loss of the motor caused AO-40 to be left in an equatorial orbit that the satellite was not designed for.
As a result of this incident several pieces of radio equipment no longer functioned or were not able to be commissioned. Following strenuous efforts by the Command Team, signals were restored on 25 December 2000 at 2145 UTC when Command Team member Ian Ashley (amateur radio call sign ZL1AOX) of New Zealand
successfully sent a 'reset' signal to the satellite. Onboard cameras were used to establish the attitude of the satellite, and the magnetorquer
system was used to spin-stabilize the satellite.
During June 2001, gas from the arcject motor was vented to raise and stabilize the orbit
of the satellite. The spacecraft got a lot higher than expected. Subsequently, the communication packages and cameras were gradually re-activated.
from the main battery was observed to go to an extremely low voltage by Stacey Mills (amateur radio call sign W4SM), a member of the Command Team. This caused the onboard Internal Housekeeping Unit (IHU) computer
to cut power to the transponder
payloads. Just prior to the loss of control of the satellite, the auxiliary battery came online in parallel with the main battery. When the main battery failed, it effectively short-circuited the auxiliary battery, killing the spacecraft. Many attempts were made to disconnect the main battery, but insufficient voltage was available to drive the relays. One day an open-circuit failure may occur in the main battery, in which case the spacecraft may come to life again. Though the command team believe that the main battery failure was probably a consequence of damage done during the event, and it is likely that similar damage was done to the auxiliary battery, making an eventual recovery of AO-40 unlikely.
On 9 March 2004, Colin Hurst (amateur radio call sign VK5HI) of Australia
, a member of the command team, heard a change in the level of radio noise at the expected beacon
frequency
during the period 0310 to 0320 UTC (orbit 1541).
All telemetry captured by the command team, and its network of helpers, is archived on the web at the AMSAT
website.
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
(AMSAT
AMSAT
AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation with headquarters at Silver Spring, Maryland, near Washington DC. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate satellites carrying amateur...
) of the OSCAR
OSCAR
OSCAR is an acronym for Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. OSCAR series satellites use amateur radio frequencies to facilitate communication between amateur radio stations. These satellites can be used for free by licensed amateur radio operators for voice and data communications...
series; formerly known as Phase 3D.
The Project Manager was Peter Guelzow (amateur radio call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
DB2OS) of AMSAT Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(AMSAT-DL).
Design, construction and launch
Following the failure of the Phase 3A launcher, design studies were undertaken and construction started for two successor satellites, that became AO-10 (Phase 3B) and AO-13 (Phase 3C) respectively.After the launch of AO-13, design commenced for a Phase 4 satellite. This idea was later shelved, and design of Phase 3D (on-orbit name: AO-40) was undertaken under direction of the project team based in Germany, involving amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
payloads from many countries in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Assembly was done at AMSAT's Spacecraft Integration Facility in the 'Free Trade Zone Building' at the Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
from 1994 to 2000.
It was launched on 16 November 2000, on an Ariane 5
Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
launch vehicle from Kourou
Kourou
Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America.Kourou is the location of the Guiana Space Centre, France and ESA's main spaceport.-Geography:...
, in French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, and reported cost was 4.5 Million USD.
Operational problems
On 13 December 2000 at 11:23 UTCCoordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
, transmissions from AO-40 ceased during the exercising of its 400 newton motor. The Command Team were able to infer that there had been an explosion caused by pressure in the propellant pipes caused by malfunction of the control valves. A protective cap that was supposed to be removed from the motor before launch, was inadvertently left in place. When the motor was fired, pressure built up where it shouldn't, and destructive failure occurred. The loss of the motor caused AO-40 to be left in an equatorial orbit that the satellite was not designed for.
As a result of this incident several pieces of radio equipment no longer functioned or were not able to be commissioned. Following strenuous efforts by the Command Team, signals were restored on 25 December 2000 at 2145 UTC when Command Team member Ian Ashley (amateur radio call sign ZL1AOX) of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
successfully sent a 'reset' signal to the satellite. Onboard cameras were used to establish the attitude of the satellite, and the magnetorquer
Magnetorquer
In satellite systems, a magnetorquer or magnetic torquer is a system for attitude control, detumbling and stabilization built from electromagnetic coils...
system was used to spin-stabilize the satellite.
During June 2001, gas from the arcject motor was vented to raise and stabilize the orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
of the satellite. The spacecraft got a lot higher than expected. Subsequently, the communication packages and cameras were gradually re-activated.
Failure
On 25 January 2004, telemetryTelemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
from the main battery was observed to go to an extremely low voltage by Stacey Mills (amateur radio call sign W4SM), a member of the Command Team. This caused the onboard Internal Housekeeping Unit (IHU) computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
to cut power to the transponder
Transponder
In telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:...
payloads. Just prior to the loss of control of the satellite, the auxiliary battery came online in parallel with the main battery. When the main battery failed, it effectively short-circuited the auxiliary battery, killing the spacecraft. Many attempts were made to disconnect the main battery, but insufficient voltage was available to drive the relays. One day an open-circuit failure may occur in the main battery, in which case the spacecraft may come to life again. Though the command team believe that the main battery failure was probably a consequence of damage done during the event, and it is likely that similar damage was done to the auxiliary battery, making an eventual recovery of AO-40 unlikely.
On 9 March 2004, Colin Hurst (amateur radio call sign VK5HI) of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, a member of the command team, heard a change in the level of radio noise at the expected beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
during the period 0310 to 0320 UTC (orbit 1541).
All telemetry captured by the command team, and its network of helpers, is archived on the web at the AMSAT
AMSAT
AMSAT is a name for amateur radio satellite organizations worldwide, but in particular the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation with headquarters at Silver Spring, Maryland, near Washington DC. AMSAT organizations design, build, arrange launches for, and then operate satellites carrying amateur...
website.
External links
- AO-40 status information (AMSAT Germany) - in German and English