Burnaby, British Columbia, March 14, 2018 – Orbital Research Ltd., a leader in frequency conversion products for SATCOM industries, today announced a new partnership with Tethers Unlimited Inc. (TUI), a private aerospace company headquartered near Seattle, Washington.
Building on the success of its 20 GHz low noise block converter (LNB), Orbital Research will manufacture a space-based 26 GHz Ka-band receiver to be used as a modular component of TUI’s line of SWIFT software-defined radios. These radios provide high-performance communication for CubeSats and other small satellites.
“We’re thrilled to partner with TUI on this project,” said Orbital’s CEO, Ian McEachern. “They’re doing some really interesting things with advanced cognitive radio capabilities. Together we can help SmallSat ventures get to market faster with exceptionally high throughput and flexibility for challenging mission and regulatory environments.”
The low-power, small-footprint SWIFT radios with Orbital receivers will specifically target the small satellite Tracking, Telemetry and Control (TT&C) market – and help customers overcome the challenge of spectrum congestion.
“TUI is delighted to be working with Orbital on our new SWIFT radio solutions for mid to high Ka-band,” said Dr. Rob Hoyt, TUI’s CEO. “Their LNBs are known for high performance and reliability in demanding environments – and that’s exactly what we need.”
Orbital is also planning on developing a ground-based LNB at higher Ka frequencies to relieve congestion on the other end.