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Summary: The upcoming migration of satellite services to higher bands, namely, the Ka‐ and Q/V‐bands, offers many advantages in terms of bandwidth and system capacity. However, it poses challenges as propagation effects introduced by the various atmospheric phenomena are particularly pronounced in these bands and can become a serious constraint in terms of system reliability and performance. This paper presents the goals, organisation, and preliminary results of an ongoing large‐scale European coordinated propagation campaign using the Alphasat Aldo Paraboni Ka/Q band signal payload on satellite, performed by a wide scientific consortium in the framework of a European Space Agency (ESA) project. The main objective of this activity is the experimental characterisation of the spatial and temporal correlation over Europe of the radio channel at Ka and Q band for future modelling activities and to collect data for development and testing of fading mitigation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper provides an overview of the space segment of the Aldo Paraboni mission on the Alphasat satellite and the technology programme that has developed one of the most powerful geostationary satellites in Europe. The Aldo Paraboni technology demonstration payload, funded by ASI under European Space Agency's Advanced Research in Telecommunications System Programme, was embarked as a hosted payload on the Alphasat satellite, launched on 25 July 2013. The Aldo Paraboni payload is composed of two main elements, an experimental communication payload operating at Q/V bands (COMEX) and a scientific payload formed by 2 beacons at Ka and Q bands (SCIEX). The Aldo Paraboni payload is a key technology element of the Aldo Paraboni Mission, which covers two main objectives: the communication segment of the mission aims at assessing the performance of satellite communication links at Q/V bands and investigating use Fade Mitigation Techniques (FMT, eg, Adaptive Coding and Modulation defined in DVB‐S2 standard), while the scientific segment aims at characterizing in time, space, and frequency the K and Q band radio channel over Europe to permit development and improvement of propagation channels for slant paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]