UK RF manufacturer contributes to ‘fibre-in-the-sky’ low Earth orbit network  

RF and mmWave expert, Filtronic, has secured a contract with US-based Almagest Space to develop a space-qualified customised E-band transceiver and other E-band payload components. The products will be used in Almagest’s global low earth orbit (LEO) two-way optically connected satellite network for ultra-high throughput data delivery services. The network will initially comprise 24 satellites and be scalable to meet increasing demand, ultimately carrying petabytes of data across the globe and in space.

To deliver the high performance required to build a fibre-like satellite network, Almagest chose to incorporate foundational E-band technologies into its three planned Almagest Missions, comprising two increasingly sophisticated in-space demonstration missions followed by its commercial global constellation.

For the initial technology demonstration project, Filtronic has developed an Ikelos board, which interfaces Filtronic’s standard Morpheus X2 with a a commercially available software defined radio (SDR). The Morpheus X2 is a high-performance E-band transceiver supporting linear Tx output power in excess of 24dBm. With a compact low mass form factor, this transceiver is ideal for applications where size, weight and power (SWaP) are critical.

“It’s been predicted that E-band mmWave radio links will experience the fastest growth of all the frequency bands over the next five years,” explained Dan Rhodes, Business Development Director at Filtronic. “The growth comes from the huge unsatiable global demand for data. Terrestrial & non-terrestrial backhaul via E-band is the perfect solution for both high capacity and high data rates.”

“At Filtronic, we pride ourselves on solving our clients’ complex RF, microwave and mmWave challenges. As the market continues to grow, we expect these challenges to become even more complex. That’s why we feel so proud to be involved in projects like the Almagest Missions.”

“These are extremely complex engineering feats, so when it came to sourcing the right supplier, Filtronic were top of our list and they have not disappointed” stated Raghu Das, Almagest CEO. “The SDR plus Morpheus X2 will initially be embedded into our Elevation-1 Mission, which is a CubeSat creating an E-band link between low Earth orbit (LEO) and a ground station. In the next stage of the project, Filtronic will develop an application specific space qualified transceiver and other payload components that will enable us to provide truly ultra-high throughput services to meet customer high-capacity requirements anywhere in the world. We are looking forward to seeing where this partnership can take us.”

For more information about Filtronic’s range of products and its custom solutions, visit www.filtronic.com

You may be interested in...