Communicating with the ISS

The International Space Station
The International Space Station in Earth orbit.  Ham radio operators on board
make contacts with earthbound hams when schedules permit.  (Credit photo: NASA)

Dr. Owen Garriott, W5LFL, became the first astronaut to use Amateur Radio to make contact with earth from space.  In November of 1983, Garriott took a Motorola 2 meter handheld transceiver with him aboard US Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-9 and in his spare time talked with fellow ham radio operators Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, and Jordan’s King Hussein,JY1, among others, using a special antenna that was Velcro-attached to one of the shuttle’s windows.

NASA officials soon came to appreciate the utility of having an extra communications system on board, and the SAREX (“Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment”) was born.  Schools with ham radio clubs as well as individual hams began lining up to talk with earth-orbiting astronauts and cosmonauts, and NASA also began to appreciate ham radio as a teaching and promotional tool.

Several private and commercial entities teamed up to permanently equip the International Space Station with Amateur Radio equipment under the ARISS (“Amateur Radio on the International Space Station”) program.  There is a lengthy waiting list of schools that wish to host a contact with the ISS.  Almost all the personnel aboard the ISS are licensed Amateur Radio operators, and they are free to use the stations to make contacts during their free time.


Amateur Radio on the International Space Station - NASA
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station - ARRL
Teaching from Space - NASA
Becoming a Ham Radio Operator


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