Product Platform Concepts Applied to Small Satellites: A New Multipurpose Radio Concept by AeroAstro Inc.

Abstract

AeroAstro Inc., with the development of their new multipurpose radio platform, has solved many of the communication problems faced by spacecraft system designers. With each new satellite application, engineering teams repeatedly address several communication requirements that are common to all satellite application. As part of a U.S. Air Force sponsored effort, AeroAstro’s Space Frame initiative is implementing product platform concepts to develop a family of radios that are modular, based on standard interfaces, and use an open architecture. The new multipurpose radio uses standard core modules that can be configured to meet a wide range of spacecraft radio applications. For example, modules for a receiver, a transmitter, a baseband processor and a power amplifier will be designed. Some of these modules will have differentiators, or selectable parameters. Once the design of these modules is mature, the design of a particular satellite radio is simply a matter of selecting the correct modules with the right parameters and interconnecting them. The new multipurpose radio reduces the time and cost required to meet the communication requirements of multiple spacecraft applications. This paper describes the new product platform approach and some of the subsystem functions imbedded in this multipurpose radio.