Funded by the ESA as part of its ARTES programme, this activity will demonstrate the use of the 75GHz frequency band for future telecommunications satellites. The test flight will be carried out using a Finnish-made CubeSat satellite, weighing less than 5kg, and is scheduled to launch next year.
The satellite's mission is to send, for the first time in history, such a high-frequency signal from space to Earth. The transmission of the signal through the atmospheric layers must be substantiated before telecommunications satellites that utilise the new frequency band can be designed with the desired features.
The satellite to be built for the project is based on Reaktor Space Lab’s ‘Hello World’ satellite platform, which will be launched on its first mission this summer.
The satellite, named W-Cube, will feature an integrated dual-frequency beacon transmitter developed by VTT. The signal it broadcasts will be observed at the prime contractor JOANNEUM RESEARCH’s measurement station in Graz, Austria.
