Evolution and recent development in MMIC's for space application

A very aggressive policy has been set up in the early 1990s to introduce MMIC in space equipment in ALCATEL Space Industries. The first step was to choose preferred suppliers able to produce high reliability low level or power MMIC's up to Ku band even if the required quantities were not so important. MMIC processes have been formally space qualified following the methodology proposed by French Administration. The second step was to develop MMIC's as "building blocks," families of generic simple circuits were designed (gain block, LNA, MPA, HPA, phase shifter, flatness correctors, multipliers, mixers, oscillators, etc...) mainly in C band and Ku band. This represented more than 100 different MMIC's.