11/20/2019

The world's longest-lived satellite, AO-7, turned 45 years old this month. It was launched[1] on November 15, 1974, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After nearly 7 years of service, AO-7 was thought to have reached the end of its life in June 1981 due to battery failure, and a premature obituary[2] appeared in the AMSAT Satellite Report.

In an interesting footnote, although AO-7 was thought to be nonfunctional after 1981, it's been reported[3] that the Polish Solidarity movement used AO-7 to pass messages in 1982, while Poland was under martial law.

Twenty years later, on June 21, 2002, G3IOR reported hearing "an old-style CW beacon" from an unknown OSCAR near 145.970 MHz. It didn't take long to identify the satellite as AO-7, which remains operational and well-used while it's in sunlight.

To celebrate AO-7's 45th birthday, AMSAT plans to auction a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size 42R). The auctions are now live on eBay[4] and will conclude shortly after 0200 UTC on November 26, 2019. AMSAT reports that 100% of the proceeds will go toward Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. - Thanks to AMSAT News Service


[1] https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Launch
[2] https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Record
[3] https://nowahistoria.interia.pl/prl/news-jak-solidarnosc-walczaca-wykorzystala-satelite-do-zbudowania,nId,1734550
[4] https://www.ebay.com/usr/amsat-na

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