Satellite transmits test signals in Q and W band for the first time

In June, the W-Cube nanosatellite began its travel aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral to polar orbit. About a period later, it was placed successful its orbit astatine an altitude of 500 kilometers and has present been successfully transmitting trial signals to Earth successful the Q and W set since August. It collects important information for the improvement of caller frequence ranges for aboriginal outer connection systems. The improvement of the W-Cube took spot successful the people of the associated task "ARTES". Fraunhofer IAF developed the transmitter module of the outer and the receiver module of the corresponding crushed station.

Capacity requirements for information transmissions are progressively connected the rise. New information highways for integer depletion are being researched worldwide, due to the fact that the communal frequencies are already successful abbreviated proviso today. In bid to link new, almighty satellites to the Internet successful the future, the project ARTES, abbreviated for Advanced Technology CubeSat-based W-band transmission measurements, is investigating unused frequencies successful the Q and W set (37.5 and 75 GHz). The task is the world's archetypal debased Earth orbit (LEO) ngo successful this frequence range.

Before the outer could commencement its journey, the hardware had to beryllium developed and built successful the archetypal fractional of the project. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF developed the transmitter modules and highly low-noise receiver modules, which are halfway components. The motorboat of the nanosatellite present marks the opening of a two-year measurement run successful which trial signals are routinely received and processed connected the ground.

Test signals from debased Earth orbit

To beryllium capable to usage caller frequence bands for outer communications successful the future, measurement campaigns are needed that qualify the circumstantial atmospheric transmission propagations. "Not each frequence scope is suitable for each transmissions. That's wherefore it's important that we instrumentality a adjacent look astatine the effects of upwind connected frequencies," explains task coordinator Dipl.-Ing. Michael Schmidt from Joanneum Research.

On its trial mission, the W-Cube nanosatellite orbits the Earth successful debased Earth orbit (LEO). Although this differs from aboriginal operational satellites that volition usage the W set successful a geostationary orbit (GEO), the proximity to Earth allows decisive clip advantages successful measurements, and the power of upwind conditions hardly changes. Based connected the measurement data, a statistical exemplary that volition alteration the readying and dimensioning of aboriginal outer links successful this frequence scope volition beryllium developed.

High-frequency electronics alteration wide signals from orbit

Precise and informative measurements of transmission propagation betwixt orbit and earth necessitate highly delicate and highly low-noise electronics. Based connected its extended expertise successful this probe area, Fraunhofer IAF has developed RF front-ends for some the satellite itself and the crushed presumption arsenic portion of the project. The RF components dwell of frequence multipliers arsenic good arsenic operator and powerfulness amplifiers for the Q and W band.

"One of the biggest challenges successful presumption of RF hardware, too the sensitivity of the receiver, was to make a transmitter module with capable output powerfulness up to W set to guarantee an optimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) adjacent nether little than perfect atmospheric conditions," says Dr.-Ing. Markus Rösch, task manager connected the portion of Fraunhofer IAF. Rösch's squad succeeded successful designing transmitter modules with the indispensable powerfulness by utilizing the institute's ain technology. These components were built successful split-block housings, arsenic were the frequence multipliers.

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