NEA - GNSS Antenna and Binohorns for telecom spacecraft

  • Status
    Completed
  • Status date
    2018-10-18
  • Activity Code
    4-.015
Objectives

The objective of the project has been to advance the development of the GNSS Antenna for robustness and develop multi horn assemblies for global coverage TTC, IOT payload Rx/Tx and Beacon.

Challenges

To improve the structural ability without affecting the RF-performance of GNSS PEC antennas.    

The mechanical and thermal design of the horn support bracket to fulfil the environmental requirements and achieve compact size and weight.

Benefits

The horn antennas features:

  • Dual horn assemblies with low mass and volume
  • Separated Rx and Tx
  • Selectable polarization; single/dual & linear/circular
  • Integrated and selectable ground pointing capability
  • Standard footprint allowing selectable frequency configurations 

The GNSS PEC Antenna design is robust with small low height/mass and has excellent RF performance.

Features

The horn antennas are for Ku-band global coverage TTC, Ka-band IOT payload Rx/Tx and Tx Beacon signal.

The GNSS PEC antenna is for satellite GNSS receivers and features low height and is adapted for GNSS frequencies from L5/E5a, E5b, L2 to L1/E1.

Plan

The study was performed with the following work packages:

  • 200 GNSS Preliminary Design
  • 300 GNSS Design
  • 400 GNSS EQM
  • 500 Binohorn Design
  • 600 Binohorn EQM 

The following reviews have been held:

  • KO/Pre Work Review
  • CDR/TRR
  • TRB/Final Review
Current status

The project is completed and the units have been fully qualified.

Prime Contractor