Study on the use of 25.5-27 GHz band in ESA ground stations

Callisto is proud to announce the award of a new study for the European Space Agency. The objective is to study the feasibility of modifications of the existing ESA DSA1 and DSA 2 antennas to support an additional downlink frequency around 26 GHz. The study must consider all aspects of the front-end system design including the antenna, beam waveguide, dichroics and feeds, LNAs, downconverters, demodulation and communications aspects.

The project will be undertaken in two main phases. The phase 1 covers the preliminary feasibility analysis and trade-off studies into alternative possible solutions. The phase 2 involves the detailed design of the antenna modifications, which are selected for further study.

Callisto will be supported in this activity by a team including:

• University of Pavia Department of Electronics, which will be responsible for the antenna optical design analysis, the dichroics design analysis and the feed preliminary analysis.
• ERA Technology Limited, which will be responsible for the feed detailed design analysis.
• Zelinda Limited, which will be responsible for the demodulator design analysis.
• Makalumedia GmbH, which will be responsible for data communication design analysis.