A 20 W glass S-band SSPA for Japanese Engineering Test Satellite VIII

The advanced Space Communications Research Laboratory (ASC) has developed S-band solid-state amplifiers (SSPA) for the Japanese Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-VIII). The transponder has multiple beams using active phased-array antennas, and it also has 31 S-band solid-state amplifiers (SSPA). This paper describes the SSPA designed for operation at 20-W operation and its performance in the phased array. The amplifier consists of five amplifier stages. Four amplifier FET modules, which are high-power, high-efficiency internally matched, and harmonically controlled are used in parallel. We developed a small, high-power, electric power conditioner by applying surface mount technology. SSPA has the dimensions of 220 x 210 x 65 mm with a weight of 2.4 kg. The power levels of the multicarrier with a 5-MHz bandwidth output (2,500-2,505 MHz, and 2,535-2,540 MHz) were from 42.5 to 43.5 dBm, and efficiency was 21 to 26% at an input power of -15 dBm. The noise power ratios were 17 to 21 dB under the same conditions.