It’s time to, once again, speak of, yet, another AMSAT-NA failure. This time it was Fox-1E that was launched January 17, 2021 by Virgin Orbit.
Like AO-95 which preceded Fox-1E in orbit, Fox-1E was DOA. To be totally correct, AO-95 could be heard but couldn’t hear signals from the ground whereas Fox-1E seems to be totally DOA.
There has not been any communications from ‘leadership’ of AMSAT-NA about Fox-1E. This is the modus operandi for the organization. They always hope that if they just ignore the failures that nobody will care.
The last three satellite opportunities for AMSAT-NA have resulted in zero out of three functional satellites with the three that proceeded them failing prematurely. AMSAT-NA has a problem with its engineering of satellites. I could understand one satellite failing but we now have a disturbing trend and members have NO communication from AMSAT-NA leadership.
I am an AMSAT-NA member and one of the more vocal members. I’m not afraid to speak my mind and sign my name to what I wrote. AMSAT-NA members deserve much better than what they are getting from the current ‘leaders’. I am calling for current, legacy, incumbent Board members to resign and I am calling for the VPE to be removed from his position. After all, he’s not an engineer and there’s really no effective way for him to lead an engineering team. I am also calling for engineering team members to be re-vetted and possibly replaced. AMSAT-NA has limited funds and these continued failures are just eroding any money in the coffers.
AMSAT-NA now finds itself in a very precarious situation. A history of failed satellites combined with a documented history of ‘leaders’ that are simple using the organization as a clubhouse have caused the membership to lose confidence.
Yes, space is hard but a lack of ‘leaders’ that have integrity and leadership abilities have led to a #DownwardSpiral of the organization.
I call for legacy, incumbent AMSAT-NA Board members to resign so that others can help to save the organization. If these legacy, incumbent Board members truly do care about keeping amateur radio in space the. They should do so for the good of the organization.