Fram2Ham Competition

March 31, 2025 – Amateur radio enthusiasts around the world have only hours and minutes to wait for the expected launch on March 31 of the Fram2 mission and the global Fram2Ham amateur radio competition. The three-to-five-day polar orbiting flight with four civilian astronauts will be the first human space vehicle injected into a pole-to-pole orbit.Here’s how it will work: At certain points during the mission, astronaut Rebea Rogge (call sign: LB9NJ Norway; KD3AID USA), will use a battery-powered Icom IC-705 transceiver to transmit Slow-Scan TV (SSTV) images to earth. High school and college-age students, with expert guidance, will use radio receivers to try to capture the data—satellite images Rebea chose of three polar geographic areas linked to polar expeditions in the past. This is no small task for several reasons: The space vehicle is traveling in a circular orbit 420 km above the earth; signal propagation will not be fully understood until the mission starts, and due to variations in spacecraft antenna orientation, the transmitted signals might be offset to one side of the flight path. Participants have to figure out how to precisely point their antennas to follow the Fram2 spacecraft as it hurdles across the sky.

Adding to the challenge is the shortness of the mission and the need for constant correction for shifts in the signal frequency as the fast-moving spacecraft travels over a ground station. This shift is known as the Doppler effect and it’s similar to what happens to the sound of a train whistle or an ambulance siren as it passes by.

Time is of the essence as each location will likely have only one or two passes each day to try to receive the data. To succeed, participants must capture four complete pieces of three images—12 in all—and reassemble the images (like a puzzle) in addition to answering a series of questions about the history of polar expeditions. Like the explorers of the past, youth around the world are making it clear they are excited to be part of this pioneering mission as active participants—the challenges are only making them more determined to succeed!

The SSTV images can also be received by any radio enthusiasts—hams , educators, and youth—worldwide  and we encourage everyone to post these images to the ARISS SSTV Gallery. To aid in orbital tracking, we are publishing the Two Line Elements data on the ARISS website at www.ariss-usa.org/keps.txt and at https://www.ariss.org/keps.html. For a primer on Two Line and Keplerian orbital elements please visit this AMSAT web site.

Anyone receiving and posting an image to the SSTV site can receive an award certificate via email by clicking on the “I accept the terms” button that comes up after successfully submitting an image. We will not reveal any posted SSTV images until after the Fram2 mission is complete. A note on social media: We ask that anyone capturing images during the mission refrain from posting their findings on social media until at least three days after the mission is complete, so as to not aid any of the competitors.

Fram2 is meant to give homage to the three Arctic and Antarctic expeditions of the Norwegian ship, Fram, between 1893 and 1912.

For more information on the Fram2 mission and the Fram2Ham SSTV competition, see: f2.com and Fram2Ham.com.