Following the recent kind agreement of Consórcio SAT, the owners of PoSAT (PO28 or 1993-061D) which was launched on  the Ariane V59  from Kourou on the 26th September 1993, work has been progressing  at SSTL and the Surrey Space Centre to  switch transponder frequencies to the amateur satellite service  to serve as a voice FM transponder for use by all radio amateurs worldwide.

Unfortunately, recent investigations now indicate that the PoSAT onboard NiCd batteries are showing the effects of 12 years in orbit and the approx 100,000 charge /discharge cycles to which they have subjected and are no longer holding sufficient charge to operate the downlinks. This may mean that, sadly after all, it will not be possible for the satellite to be made available for amateur use.

We fully understand the benefits that PO28 would offer radio amateurs and work is continuing at Surrey to see if there is any way to revive this 'old lady'. Watch this space for further updates…

Martin Sweeting G3YJO