Summer 2004 Issue

From ECHO to OSCAR 51

On June 29, 2004, AMSAT OSCAR 51 (AO-51), also known as ECHO, was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Here is account of ECHO’s journey and launch, and a discussion of the capabilities it has to offer.

By Lee McLamb,* KU4OS

Figure 1. ECHO/AO-51 block diagram. (All graphics courtesy AMSAT)

Have you ever dreamed of being part of the space program? Perhaps you’ve dreamed of building and operating an amateur radio station in space? At AMSAT1 those dreams have been becoming realities since the launch of the first Orbital Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio (OSCAR-1) in 1961. AMSAT’s latest project, known as ECHO, has now been officially designated as AMSAT OSCAR 51 (AO-51), continuing that proud tradition. In this article we’ll follow ECHO on its final journey from Virginia in the United States through its final checkout and launch in Baikonur, Kazakhstan and discuss what capabilities AO-51 has to offer.
The ECHO project was conceived with the goal of launching a highly capable voice and digital satellite into low Earth orbit (LEO). ECHO is a 9.5-inch cube, and is what is known as a microsat. The satellite’s structure is made up of a set of six stacked aluminum trays which hold the various modules. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the satellite and also provides a layout of what is in each tray.

On June 9, 2004, ECHO was placed in the vacuum chamber at the SpaceQuest2 facility in Virginia for an hour and pushed hard with both 70-cm transmitters running full power. Before packing ECHO for shipping, a final check of the sensitivity of all the 2-meter receivers and the wide-band tunable receiver (SQRX) was made, as well as characterizing the received signal-strength indicator (RSSI). With the final checks complete, ECHO was loaded into the shipping container, and Chuck Green, NØADI, representing AMSAT, along with the team from SpaceQuest, all of whom are also hams, and AMSAT volunteers who were escorting another group of satellites headed to New York’s JFK airport for their eventual trip to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Chuck provided the following account of his trip with ECHO:

When you plan to fly and your hand-carried item happens to be a satellite, it pays to plan ahead. Airport security had been notified in advance that we would be bringing the three satellites. As a back up, the team also had ready the names and phone numbers of several levels of security management. The preparation paid off. Since they were expecting us, there was no problem. Security took one of the satellites and opened the box. They just poked around a bit, and then we were on our way to the Aeroflot gate for the flight to Moscow.
 

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