NASA taps Morehead Space Science Center to demonstrate V-band satellite crosslinks for remote-sensing data
CLEVELAND – U.S. space researchers needed to demonstrate V-band satellite crosslinks to transmit large volumes of science and Earth remote-sensing data with high-speed and low latency. They found a solution from the Morehead State University Space Science Center in Morehead, Ky.
Officials of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center in Cleveland announced a $14.2 million contract to the Morehead Space Science Center last Monday for the Small Satellite Cross-Link Systems project.
Small satellite demonstration
The Small Satellite Cross-Link Systems seeks to conduct a small satellite flight demonstration of V-band crosslinks in performing V-band crosslink space-communications experiments.
V band describes microwave frequencies from 40 to 75 gigahertz. The V band is not heavily used, except for millimeter wave radar research and other kinds of scientific research.
Scientific and Earth remote-sensing missions are primary users of Earth-proximity space-relay communication services for climate monitoring, resource management, oceanography, and disaster response.
As sensing technologies develop, the data volume needs for remote sensing missions in real time are increasing, which requires high-speed, low- latency communications, NASA researchers explain.
V-band high-speed crosslinks
NASA wants a Morehead Space Science Center to conduct a small satellite flight to demonstrate the performance of V-band high-speed data crosslinks, and work with colleges and universities to perform V-band crosslink space-communication experiments.
The Morehead Space Science Center will conduct a small satellite-based flight demonstration of a V-band crosslink capability, and complete a mission concept review, mission design review, characterization and experiment plan review, and launch and operational readiness review with NASA experts prior to launching the small satellites.
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NASA officials are asking the Morehead Space Science center to address:
-- antenna pattern and pointing performance to quantify realized antenna gain as a function of the relative position between satellites and pointing stability under various spacecraft conditions;
-- link budget performance to quantify realized link margins and signal to noise ratios as a function of various systems parameters and relative position between satellites;
Crosslink communications quality
-- bit error rate performance curves for available modulation and coding schemes to quantify the quality of the crosslink communications channel;
-- data throughput and latency performance under various spacecraft conditions and use cases to quantify the ability of V-band crosslink systems to support remote sensing and Earth observation science use-cases;
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-- ranging and positioning performance to quantify the ability of V-band crosslink capability to support range and velocity measurements between the small satellites; and
-- end-to-end system performance to evaluate the ability to use the V-band cross- link capability in real-world use-cases and applications.
For more information, contact the Morehead Space Science Center online at www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/colleges/science/engineering-sciences/space-science-center, or NASA Glenn Research Center at www.nasa.gov/glenn. Email questions or concerns to NASA's Tyler Braden at [email protected].
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
