OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO issued this announcement this evening:
“Since DESPATCH appears to have met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number, including IARU coordination, I hereby with the authority vested in me be by the AMSAT-NA President, do confer on DESPATCH, the OSCAR number Fuji OSCAR 81 or FO-81.”
Continuing, Bill wrote, “I use the Fuji designation in recognition of the long history of contributions the Japanese have made to Amateur Radio satellites. I trust that Fuji OSCAR-81’s mission will be successful and much valuable data will be collected.”
Akihiro Kubota replied from Japan, “It is a great honor for us to receive the OSCAR number from AMSAT. We are very glad to hear it! FO-81 form the name of Fuji is also special for us. DESPATCH will transmit its beacon until this Xmas. We will keep informed of the status of the mission and share it over the world.”
AMSAT congratulates the DESPATCH and ARTSAT teams!