Thales Electron Devices is proud of its contribution to the success of Giove-A, the first demonstrator satellite for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation and positioning system. The company has supplied the Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA) that amplify the system validation signals.
These microwave tube amplifiers are particularly suitable for this application as they operate throughout the L-band frequency range used by the system, from 1.15 to 1.65 GHz. They can also easily deliver power exceeding 100 W. Significantly, because of this high power capability, coupled with the ability to cover the entire bandwidth, fewer amplifiers were needed on the satellite. These microwave tubes also enhance operational security by simplifying onboard system redundancy and in addition to their high power capability they offer flexibility and reliability. This reliability that has been proven over hundreds of millions of hours of in-orbit operation in numerous applications including commercial, military and scientific.
Furthermore, in operation the excellent quality of the signals received has surpassed expectations, enabling confirmation of the frequency allocation by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in record time.
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