A 150-W Spaceborne GaN Solid-State Power Amplifier for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

This article describes the design, testing, and space qualification of a 150-W high-power and high-efficiency GaN solid-state amplifier (SSPA) used in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The SSPA, based on 0.5-μm GaN technology, includes the radio frequency unit (RFU) and electronic power conditioner unit (EPC). The power amplifier solves the problems of high efficiency, reliability, stability, and high-power thermal design for 80-W GaN HEMT onboard applications. The RFU together with the EPC is accommodated in a different box with limited volume and mass. In continuous-wave operating mode, the SSPA delivers an output power higher than 150 W at less than 3 dB of gain compression in the whole B2-band (i.e., center frequency freq = 1.191 GHz, bandwidth BW = 80 MHz). Moreover, the demonstrated gain is higher than 52 dB and power added efficiency, including the power dissipated by the EPC, is above 50%. The SSPA has completed all space qualification tests and 10 000-h accelerated life test. The space qualification tests have been approved in 2013, and the first satellite employing this SSPA has been launched in 2015. The SSPA has been applied to more than 10 BeiDou Navigation Satellites. So far, the SSPA in the first satellite has worked successfully for more than 6 years and leads to a technology readiness level more than Level 8. The large-scale application of the high-power gallium nitride solid-state power amplifier in space is reported first in this article.