How We Do It

ARISS is an international working group, consisting of delegations from 15 countries including several countries in Europe as well as Japan, Russia, Canada, and the USA. The organization is run almost entirely by volunteers from the national amateur radio organizations (e.g. the American Radio Relay League or ARRL in the U.S.) and the international AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) organizations (e.g. AMSAT-NA in North America). Since ARISS is international in scope, the team coordinates locally with their respective space agency – the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Globally, ARISS-International coordinates as a team through working group meetings, teleconferences and electronic mail. ARISS-International consists of five regions (Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the U.S.) which parallel the five ISS space agencies. The ARISS-International Board includes the following officers: Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer. Each region has two voting delegates except Europe, which has four delegates due to the many countries and regional space organizations that comprise Europe. These delegates are chosen from the national amateur radio societies and AMSAT organizations. Delegates are the designated points of contact for each ARISS region. Because parts of the world are not aligned to a specific ARISS region, augmentations to the regions are as follows:

  • ARISS-Canada includes the Americas, except USA
  • ARISS-Europe includes Africa, Middle East and Northern Asia
  • ARISS-Japan includes Asia, Pacific and Australia
  • ARISS-Russia
  • ARISS-USA

    The international team donates approximately $5 million per year of in-kind support to the ISS program, primarily through technical and educational volunteer support to the schools, flight hardware development, and contact operations support. In the U.S., the primary ARISS sponsors are NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) organization and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). They provide financial support to fund the cost of ARISS operations support in Houston, which permits contact scheduling, crew training and crew ham radio licensing. ARISS-International organization consists of five regions (Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan and the U.S.) paralleling the five ISS space agencies.

     

    The ARISS Operations Team
    The Ops Team is made up of ARISS Technical Mentors, scheduling/technical representatives, and an orbital prediction specialist. An ARISS Operations Lead is selected from within the ranks on a periodic basis. This group meets weekly by telephone conference and much more frequently via e-mail and telephone. ARISS Technical Mentors are the experienced radio amateur volunteers who work with the schools, teachers, and local Amateur Radio groups that actually make the contacts with the ISS. Scheduling/technical representatives work within the space agencies, primarily NASA in the USA and Roscosmos in Russia, to secure the final schedules for the contacts. These scheduling representatives also coordinate training of the Astronauts in the use of the equipment on board the ISS and procedures for its use. The orbital prediction specialist does the long and short term predictions necessary to support the scheduling of all of the contacts.
    Scheduled ARISS Amateur Radio contacts with the ISS are conducted either by direct contact, or by telebridge contact. The method used will depend on the radio station equipment and experienced radio amateur volunteers available to support the contact as well as technical issues related to the orbit of the ISS over the contact location.

    Because the ARISS program supports the testing and installation of amateur radio stations aboard the ISS, astronauts have the equipment available to also make unscheduled ham radio contacts with radio amateurs all around the world on a one-to-one basis during their personal time. With a very limited investment in amateur radio equipment, licensed hams, including students who have access to amateur radio stations in a classroom, can make individual contact with astronauts aboard the ISS by learning to follow the published orbital schedule and practice some basic amateur radio contact techniques