Description
(*) On Delegation Request (formerly called Priority 2)
Objective: The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test a five stage collector for high efficiency, high power travelling wave tubes at Ku- and Ka-band.
Targeted Improvements: At least 5% efficiency improvement for Ka-band travelling wave tubes with a saturated output power greater than 170 W and for Ku-band travelling wave tubes with a saturated output power greater than 200 W, plus 10% efficiency improvement at 3 dB output back-off in both bands.
Description: Since power is limited on the spacecraft and tens of travelling wave tubes (TWTs) are typically embarked on communication satellites, TWT efficiency is a major payload design driver. Improvements in TWT efficiency directly translate into increased satellite communication capacity for the same overall payload power constraint. European Ku-band and Ka-band high power (>170 W) travelling wave tubes (TWTs) with four-stage collectors have demonstrated good efficiency of more than 60% at saturation and more than 40%at 3 dB output back-off. Nevertheless, higher efficiencies are demanded and can be achieved by increasing the number of collector stages from four to five. In this activity five-stage collectors shall be developed with the aim of significantly improving the efficiency of space Ku- and Ka-band TWTs. A 5% improvement at saturation and a 10% improvement at 3 dB output back-off are targeted. A five-stage collector breadboard assembly for high power (>170 W) TWTs shall be designed, manufactured and experimentally validated. Efficiency improvements with respect to equivalent TWTs employing a four-stage collector shall be quantified.
(*) On Delegation Request (formerly called Priority 2) activities will only be initiated on the explicit request of at least one National Delegation.