A Ka-band Transceiver for Cubesat Satellites: Feasibility Study and Prototype Development

This paper describes the feasibility study of a Ka-band transceiver specifically designed for small satellite and CubeSat operations. The transponder is conceived to ensure up to 100 Mbit s-1 data rate with a target power consumption of 20W and an overall volume of 1.5U, not including the antenna. To keep the cost as low as possible, commercial, off-the-shelf electronic components are used whenever possible. Exploiting a data communication interface like the one proposed, the small satellites market could be opened to new applications such as remote sensing, Earth observation and commercial telecommunications.