IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - July 2020 - 36

Improving Small Satellite Communications and Tracking in Deep Space
Table 2.

Assumptions Used in Calculations for Figure 7
Assumptions

S

UHF

X

KA

Frequency

MHz

425

2250

8415

32 000

Transmitter Power

dBm

36.02

36.02

36.02

36.02

Transmit Circuit Loss

dB

-2

-2

-2

-2

Antenna Gain Transmit LGA
Antenna Gain Limit HGA

dBi
dBi

3.0
10.0

3.0
18.41

3.0
29.87

3.0
41.47

Antenna Pointing Loss Transmit LGA
Antenna Pointing Loss Transmit HGA

dB
dB

0
0

0
0

0
-0.02

0
-0.32

Other Spacecraft Gain/Loss

dB

0

0

0

-1

Antenna Gain Receive LGA
Antenna Gain Receive HGA

dBi
dBi

3.0
10.0

3.0
27.96

3.0
39.41

3.0
51.02

Antenna Pointing Loss Receive LGA
Antenna Pointing Loss receive HGA

dB
dB

0
0

0
-0.01

0
0.20

0
-2.84

SNT Due to Antenna Noise Temp.

K

289

289

289

438

SNT Due to Cosmic Background

K

3

3

3

3

Telemetry Mod Index

deg

75

75

75

75

dB

-2.0

-2.0

-2.0

-2.0

dB

5.1

5.1

5.1

5.1

dB

3

3

3

3

Radio Loss
Required Eb/No (Convolutional, rate

1=
2)

Required Eb/No Margin

Table 3.

Findings of Proximity Communication Link Investigation
Scenario

Antenna Type

Pointing
Requirement

Notes

Close Range

LGA to LGA

No pointing

UHF is preferred

Mars Orbiter Distance

LGA to LGA

No pointing

UHF is preferred

LGA to MGA or HGA

Pointing at one end

Long Distance ($50,000 km)

LGA to MGA or HGA

Pointing at one end

Very Long Distance (>50,000 km,
such as Saturnian moon to moon)

HGA to HGA

Pointing at both
ends

a circular orbit around the moon with a range of about
100 km [29]. If this mission required a proximity link,
Table 3 would recommend a UHF radio using a low-gain
antenna for this short-range example. Moon missions have
also been proposed with noncircular highly eccentric

9

Because intersatellite communications in deep space is not
regulated, frequencies higher than Ka-band can also be used to provide better performance.

36

Ka-band9 outperforms
lower frequencies

orbits, e.g., Halo orbits, in which the maximum proximity
range may approach 75,000 km. For this distance, Table 3
recommends high-gain antennas at both ends of the link
with X- or Ka-band as the frequency of choice.
As a first step to address the relay needs of cislunar
missions, an Iris radio upgrade to support proximity communications at S-band and DTE communications at X- or
Ka-band is being considered at JPL. This approach would
use the existing Iris design (see Part I, section "Disruption

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

JULY 2020



IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - July 2020

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