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01 | JULY/2025
Hello!
To mark my first blog post titled Sending APRS to the International Space Station (ISS), I’d like to share a brief informational note about the ISS this month.
The ISS is the largest artificial satellite orbiting Earth, developed and operated by 16 countries and five different space agencies. It orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 400 km, traveling at a speed of 28,000 km/h. It completes one full orbit around the Earth in about 90 minutes.
Consisting of various modules, the ISS’s first module was launched in 1998 and assembled in space like a giant Lego set. It has been continuously inhabited by humans since the year 2000.
Often referred to as the most expensive toy humanity has ever built, the construction and operational costs of the ISS had exceeded €100 billion as of 2018. APRS (Amateur Packet Radio System) was first implemented aboard the ISS in 2001, but it wasn’t until 2007 that it began operating on the global APRS frequency of 145.825 MHz.
The presence of an amateur radio station and APRS system aboard the most advanced structure ever built by humankind clearly highlights the importance of amateur radio — a hobby that unfortunately doesn’t always receive the appreciation it deserves in our country.
Stay tuned…