It’s been nearly a year since we’ve seen public mention of the amateur radio focused geosynchronous satellite project that was proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA) back in late 2023. However, AMSAT-DL recently sent a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to amateur radio associations, AMSAT organizations, and other experts.
The aim is to identify potential partners who would like to actively participate in the definition and development of a new amateur radio payload for a future geostationary satellite. Contributions should include innovative technical ideas, experiences from previous missions (e.g. QO-100) as well as concrete proposals for payloads, experiments and educational initiatives.
AMSAT-DL is currently referring to the project as “futureGEO.” A copy of the RFEI request (PDF) is available. Feedback should be provided by June 30th, 2025.
In addition, the AMSAT-CA website suggests that AMSAT Canada has created a position paper to represent Canadian interests in futureGEO. The paper has not been published to the AMSAT-CA website. There’s also no mention of when the paper was submitted or to which agency.
When asked about the project at the AMSAT booth at Hamvention, the representative I spoke with had no new information.
The ESA proposed the idea of a geosynchronous satellite back in December of 2023 with proposals from AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-DL following in late 2023 and early 2024. The footprint of the satellite is expected to cover Europe and large portions of North America.
Source: AMSAT-DL
