System level design and analysis of an 8 GHz low earth orbit satellite transmitter

Small satellite platforms are getting popular and practical for remote sensing satellite applications with increasing demand for higher data rate. On the other hand, small satellite has very limited resources in terms of weight and power. The transmitter is usually one of the highest power consuming components in a satellite. The design of a satellite transmitter must be properly balanced with the demand of higher data rate and power generation capability of a small satellite. This paper presents a satellite transmitter for large bandwidth (> 30 MHz) data transmission operating in low earth orbit. The satellite operating frequency at 8 GHz is chosen based on the regulatory requirement by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This paper discusses the design of the transmitter and analyzes its performance. This design uses single up-conversion with a +40 dBm linear power output. The design of the transmitter is based on the proper choice and arrangement of microwave components to meet the satellite to ground station link requirements.