The 23rd Annual AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held July 25-27 at the University of Surrey in Guildford, about an hour's drive from London. The Colloquium is a chance to talk to satellite designers and builders, as well as a place to discover how to use Amateur Radio satellites. A beginner's session on satellites is held prior to the formal opening on the first day of the event,

Chairman of AMSAT-UK Sir Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, will open the Colloquium on Friday, July 25. This will be followed by the keynote speech, given by Coordinator of the UK Lunar Penetrator Consortium Rob Gowen of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory. He will present on "Science Penetrators for the UK MoonLITE mission."

There will be presentations from AMSAT-DL on both the eagerly awaited P3E High Earth Orbiting Satellite and the pioneering Mars Orbiter P5A during the event. According to colloquium organizers, the P5A is the first private venture spacecraft to travel to the Mars, providing radio amateurs with some true DX signals. The Delfi-C3 team will also be giving presentations on their new satellite. Its SSB/CW 435/145 linear transponder is due to be activated soon. The IARU Satellite Forum -- chaired by the IARU Satellite Adviser and President of AMSAT-SA Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV -- will also take place during the Colloquium.

The Colloquium will be streamed live on the Internet, thanks to the British Amateur Television Club (BATC). According to BATC President Peter Blakeborough, G3PYB, the club will facilitate streaming video of the presentations live to the Internet so that radio amateurs and shortwave listeners can watch from anywhere in the world. As well as the live Webcast, BATC will also be providing a "live chat" Web page, enabling viewers to post messages. Interested viewers can find the streaming video at www.batc.tv.

More information about AMSAT-UK's 23rd Annual Colloquium can be found on the AMSAT-UK Web site.