A Ka-Band Transceiver for CubeSat Satellites: Feasibility Study and Prototype Development

Abstract

This paper describes the feasibility study of a Ka-band transceiver designed for small satellite and CubeSat operations. The transponder ensures up to 100 Mbits <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> of data rate with a target power consumption of 20W and an overall volume of 1.5U, not including the antenna. To reduce the costs, commercial off-the-shelf electronic components are used whenever possible. Exploiting a data communication interface like the one proposed, the small satellites market could be opened to new applications such as remote sensing, Earth observation and commercial telecommunications.