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StatusOngoing
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Status date2025-06-11
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Activity Code7C.087
Example of Ka-band phased array antennas for Amazon Kuiper (source: The Register)
The proliferation of low earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations in recent years has accelerated the research and development in the design of electronically steerable antennas. These electronically steerable antennas, typically utilising a phased-array antenna, can out-perform a traditional parabolic dish with mechanically steering very small aperture terminals (VSAT) on the ground, in terms of ability to track fast moving satellites associated with LEO constellations and in the deployment in Satcom on the Move (SOTM) applications where ground terminal pitch, yaw and roll need fast directional compensation to maintain links.
Added to this the development of High throughput satellite (HTS) payloads utilizing higher frequency bands (e.g. Ka Band, Ku Band) with more available spectrum has meant the ability to achieve satellite links to ground terminals which are smaller and lighter than those using lower frequencies, and with more data throughput.
The key to success of such electronically steered SOTM ground terminals is the ability to achieve link performance at a competitive power and price point.
By using a novel architecture, the antenna terminal implementation is simpler to design and offers low power consumption since all data paths are minimised in length and bandwidth.
The Tawny ASIC’s flexible and chain-able characteristics allow distributed and modular antenna terminal designs supporting Radio Frequency (RF)/analog and digitally beamformed arrays.
The Tawny ASIC integrates all the functions needed to support Ka or Ku band phased array beamforming in conjunction with existing RF beamforming Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC). It is low cost and low power.
Project was managed in two Phases Definition Phase and Technology Phase. The completed milestones are:
MS 1D Definition Phase Completion Review (PCR)
MS 2D SRR Definition Phase Systems Requirements Review (SRR)
MS 1T Technology Phase Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
After the successful approval of the CCN-1 the next milestones are
MS 2T CCN-1 Technology Phase Critical Design Review (CDR)
MS 3T CCN-1 Technology Phase RevA Tape-Out Review
MS 4T CCN-1 Project Final Settlement.
The project has completed the is completing the Definition phase: the System Requirements Review (SRR) has been completed and the and Phase Completion Review (PCR) is scheduled.
