AMSAT-HB is the latest amateur radio satellite organization in the AMSAT fold. AMSAT-HB was formed in Switzerland on November 26. Switzerland’s IARU member-society USKA cited a sharp rise in interest in ham radio satellites in the country, as well as interest in the QO-100 geostationary satellite, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), and tracking objects in space.

“More and more experiments are being carried out with SDR technology in these areas,” USKA said. “But colleges and universities are also increasingly focused on these topics and are looking for help from radio amateurs in Switzerland.” AMSAT-DL (Germany) President Peter Gülzow, DB2OS, was involved in this project in advance and was one of those to suggest establishing an AMSAT organization. When it was founded, Gülzow took on the role of godparent and led the founding meeting live from Hanover, Germany.

One of AMSAT-HB’s first decisions was to apply to USKA for collective membership. The website “Swiss AMSAT Operator” has temporarily gone mostly dark while changes are under way to reflect the new AMSAT-HB organization. “We will announce our goals and purposes on this site [and] information on how to become an AMSAT-HB member,” an announcement said.