July 27, 2026—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and participants at the YOTA Camp 2026 located in Wagrain, Salzburg, Austria. ARISS conducts 60-100 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.
YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) Summer Camp 2026 is an international amateur radio event that brings together young radio enthusiasts from around the world. Hosted by the Austrian Amateur Radio Society (OeVSV), the camp is taking place from 25 July to 1 August 2026 in Wagrain, Salzburg, Austria, in the beautiful Alpine region near Salzburg.
About 110 participants aged 15 to 25 years from more than 30 countries are attending. During the week, they are taking part in a wide range of amateur radio activities, technical workshops, operating sessions, and outdoor adventures. The program includes practical training in radio communication, electronics, contesting, and modern digital technologies. Participants are also going on excursions that include ham radio mountain-top radio operations, SOTA (Summits on the Air) activities, and visits to local attractions (Ice Cave/Castle).
This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Sophie Adenot, amateur radio call sign KJ5LTN. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the telebridge station.
The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Andergrove, Mackay, Queensland, Australia. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the call sign VK4ISS, to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for July 29, 2026 at 2:59:44 pm CEST (Wagrain, Salzburg) (12:59:44 UTC, 8:59 am EDT, 7:59 am CDT, 6:59 am MDT, 5:59 am PDT).
The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://vimeo.com/oevsv and https://www.youtube.com/user/OeVSV..
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
- How will the ISS contribute to future Space exploration?
- Is there daily maintenance onboard the ISS?
- Will there be future expansions of the ISS?
- What is it like to do Amateur Radio from the ISS?
- What’s your favourite thing to do on the ISS?
- Can you access the internet in your free time?
- Do you never get scared of the distance between you and Earth?
- How do the astronauts communicate with each other on the ISS, via intercom?
- How do you do the laundry in Space?
- Is everybody ham radio licensed onboard the ISS?
- Is there any backup power supply on the ISS or is it only working on solar power?
- When you communicate with a ground station your signal will suffer from Doppler shift. Who does take care of frequency correction?
- When you travel so fast onboard the ISS, time should pass slower than on Earth. Can you measure it?
- Do you encounter interference from other electrical devices with your radio onboard?
- Why do you loose radio contact during reentry into the atmosphere?
- Do you have a smartphone onboard?
- Can you detect pollution of radio frequency spectrum from above?
- Is there a difference in air pollution above different continents of earth?
- Do you use software defined radio technology onboard?
- Do you have animals onboard the ISS?