“Surface Mountable Filters for Frequency Converters” –
ESA project for the assessment of compact L and C band filters to be easily integrated in frequency converter equipment (ESA Artes Advanced Technology, ITT AO8882)
OBJECTIVES
The project goal is to identify and validate the most suitable technology for the realization of low loss, low mass surface mountable filters at L-band and at C-band for IF converters.The innovative filters will provide up to 20% mass and footprint reduction with respect to the state of the art, and they will be integrated in frequency converters of new generation for flexible multibeam capacitive payloads.
TRL LEVEL 5
The SUMO filters have been demonstrated in relevant environments reaching a TRL of 5.
STATUS
Completed
RESULTS
L-band and C-band surface mountable filters have been developed in LTCC technology and tested for IF converters in on-board space applications. The devices show excellent performance, in-line with the full-wave simulations and the end-user specifications.
Thanks to this project, the LTCC technology with Ferro tape A6M has been optimized to provide very low loss and high reliability filters: the space compatibility tests showed negligible sensitivity of the filters to temperature variations up to 65° degrees, demonstrating a filter TRL of 5.
Next steps foresee the completion of the environmental tests on the full module, followed by the qualification phase.
Contact us for more information!
PARTNERS
Thales Alenia Space Italy – PRIME CONTRACTOR
https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/italy
RFmicrotech s.r.l. Italy