UO-22 near demise

AMSAT-UK have been informed by SSTL that UO-22 is not in good shape, and it looks as though its useful life may be over.

The SSTL Ground Station control centre at the University of Surrey have attempted several times in recent weeks to reactivate the satellite. After one attempt it did come back to life, but only briefly. Other attempts have failed completely. As time permits, the Control Station may make further attempts at reactivation, but it seems unlikely that
they will be completely successful.

The cause of the satellite's demise is unknown, but may be related to the batteries which have been in space for more than 10 years, or to the fact that the satellite is very hot due to the orbit preccessing such that it is general in full sunlight. The elevated temparature was causing problems with the receivers, as well as the battery.

UO-22 was laaunched in July 1991 from Kourou, French Guiana, and served for many years as the store and forward satellite for the Amateur Radio Packet Radio world wide SatGate service, which linked packet radio networks in many countries.

For further information contact g3wgm@amsat.org

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