Timeline for X-Band range and data
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2020 at 7:25 | comment | added | pericynthion | Good answer - FWIW there is a large constellation of cubesats in operation with 6 W x-band transmitters feeding ~15 dBi helical antennas. It works great for data downlink to ~5 m earth stations, but it wouldn't cut the mustard for talking to Titan. | |
| Mar 13, 2020 at 4:57 | comment | added | ikrase | If you have developed a cubesat-sized nuclear reactor and are holding out on us, every user on this site will be rather cross. | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 21:04 | comment | added | Uwe | @ValentinoZaffrani If you get 470 W from the solar cells in Earth orbit, you get only about 4.7 to 5.8 W in an orbit around Titan. The distance of Saturn to the Sun is about 9 to 10 AU. So you get only 1/91 to 1/100 of the solar intensity at Earth. You should have gigantic solar panels with more than 100 times the area used at Earth. | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 19:29 | comment | added | Valentino Zaffrani | @Uwe Okay, since the only purpose of the cubesat is to be an XBand-UHF and UHF-XBand data relay, you will not need electronic debris, just an SBC, altitude sensors, 3d position and movement to focus the antenna and receive, the rest of the serious space for the antenna and its equipment. With 4 solar arrays that I mentioned in the previous comment, I can access 470w, suppose I send 465w to everything that is the antenna equipment, what diameter must it have to reach the titan orbit? (Thank you very much for the help) | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 19:00 | comment | added | Uwe | @ValentinoZaffrani A foldable antenna may be used if it is large enough, not less than 1 m but larger than 3m diameter. But energy is a factor, I doubt you can use a transmitter with 1 kW or even 10 kW on a cubesat. Kilowatts not only for some milliseconds but for some seconds up to minutes. But how do you make a low noise preamplifier cooled by liquid helium in a cubesat? You need all, a large antenna, a powerful transmitter and a very low noise receiver. A little larger antenna alone would not help. | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 18:39 | comment | added | Valentino Zaffrani | and use a version of this antenna: jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA22457 | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 17:08 | comment | added | Valentino Zaffrani | Energy is not a factor, suppose I solve this. Communication from cubesat (orbiting Earth) to Earth's surface is via UHF, so with an SDR and a well-targeted omni-directional antenna you would have almost full-time communication. The cubesat's orbit height is 850 km on earth. Can the antenna be foldable? like MarCO's but in another way, like an umbrella or something like that. (I get the energy from these solar arrays: cubesatshop.com/product/solar-panels) | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 16:29 | history | edited | Uwe | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 21 characters in body
|
| Mar 12, 2020 at 15:50 | comment | added | uhoh | Great answer! If you can find an instance when DSN has ever actually used anything like 400 kW, please write an answer to Has DSS-43 ever been used in high power mode (>>20 kW) for an emergency situation? | |
| Mar 12, 2020 at 11:57 | history | answered | Uwe | CC BY-SA 4.0 |