RCC: On-board transceiver modules for satellites

Main article: Space satellites of the world

2021: Launch of on-board transceiver modules for satellites

Specialists of the holding, "Russian Space Systems "(RCS part of the State Corporation) Roskosmos developed and launched on-board transceivers for spacecraft for reliable exchange over the information " - "line. satelliteEarth This was reported to the RCS on February 17, 2021. Universal development is implemented using only domestic electronic components.

Transceivers of high-speed radio links are designed to transmit and receive target information of a large volume - satellite images, radar images, etc. The devices consist of modules of a receiver and a signal generator, a switch and an amplifier operating in the X-band of frequencies.

The modules are based on Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) technology, which is used by manufacturers of telecommunications equipment. It provides higher electrical characteristics and thermal conductivity, mechanical protection of monolithic integrated circuits (IIS) and module tightness, high reliability and fault tolerance. The use of LTCC ceramics in the creation of ultra-high frequency (microwave) devices made it possible to switch from modules based on metal cases to small-sized ceramic modules, to implement three-dimensional designs inside.

When developing microwave devices, we were faced with the fact that the electronic components available on the domestic market did not allow us to achieve the required operating frequencies and significantly complicated the design of the device. As a result, we have mastered the development of our own ultrahigh-frequency monolithic integrated circuits. This solution gave us the opportunity to more flexibly approach the design of microwave modules. We were able to increase the speed of information transfer, reduce the number of active elements on the board from 18 to 9 and halve the dimensions - from 60x60 to 30x30 mm. The development of its own microwave MIS takes no more than three months and costs several tens of thousands of rubles apiece, while the order of a new scheme from an external manufacturer, subject to development costs, costs about 60 million rubles. and lasts about four years, said the head of the department for the development of onboard microwave devices RKS Andrei Buyankin

The devices are planned to be used in the creation of satellites for broadband communications and remote sensing of the Earth.