PDHT | ESA CSC

Competitiveness & Growth

Status

Completed
Status date

2025-05-20
Activity Code

5D.035

Objectives

The objective of this activity is to develop and verify an Engineering Model (EM) and an Engineering Qualification Model (EQM) of a new payload for LEO satellites for high-speed downlink to ground based on the DVB-S2X standard. Key features of the payload are:

High-speed input data interfaces (multiple 10 Gbps interfaces)
High-capacity data storage (~3.8 TB)
High-capacity downlink (>5 Gbps downlink rate)
Support transmission bandwidth up to 1.4 Gsps / 1.5 GHz
Integrated 10W Ka-band transmitter.

Challenges

Key challenges in the project are:

Selection and implementation of Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based processing platform
Find and qualify suitable devices for high-capacity data storage
Find and qualify suitable Ka-band high power amplifier (HPA)
Mechanical design - including heat transfer, and tolerance to required vibration and shock levels
Hardware and firmware tolerance to radiation levels in LEO
Power efficient design
Characterisation of power amplifier and proper control of Output Back-Off for relevant modulation schemes.

Benefits

The PDHT combines high storage capacity with ultra-fast downlink speed, higher than existing payloads available on the market.

Features

Product features:

DVB-S2X downlink
- Baud rates up to 1400 Megasymbols per second (Msps)
- Data rates up to 5 Gbps
- Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM)
Fully in-orbit reprogrammable payload where algorithms and air interface can be updated
High-capacity data storage (~3.8 TB)
Multiple 10 Gbps fibre interfaces for data input
CoaxPress interface for data input from camera
Option for Controller Area Network (CAN) or RS-485 interface to On-Board Charger (OBC)
Redundant interfaces.