Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will mark two major milestones this month with a special Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Beginning November 12 through November 20, the station will transmit a series of 12 commemorative SSTV images, pausing only for a scheduled educational contact.

The “SSTV Spacetacular” will highlight both the recent World Scouting movement’s Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) and the 25th anniversary of ARISS ham radio operations on the ISS.

ARISS first went on the air on November 13, 2000, when the ISS Expedition 1 crew made the inaugural ham radio contact using an Ericsson VHF radio. That same year, the first scheduled school contact linked ISS Commander Bill Shepherd, who had call sign KD5GSL, with students at Luther Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois. Since then, ARISS has connected an estimated 200,000 students, educators, and enthusiasts each year with astronauts living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory.

For this month’s event, scouts, educators, students, and amateur radio operators worldwide are invited to receive and decode the transmitted images. Participants can upload their received pictures to the ARISS SSTV gallery to earn a commemorative electronic award certificate.

In ARISS’s most recent SSTV campaign — held in early October to celebrate World Space Week — nearly 9,000 images were submitted by more than 3,600 participants on all continents, including three from Antarctica.

For the latest SSTV schedules, frequencies, and event details, follow ARISS on ARISS Facebook, X and Instagram.

Thanks to ARISS for the information in this news release.

About ARISS
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, participants are ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), and NASA’s Space communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.