Space Activities
Space Heritage
RPG Radiometer physics GmbH has provided RF sub-systems for several succesfull space missions. Some examples of RPG hardware contribution to space missions are:
- ODIN 200 GHz and 400 GHz LO and mixers for sub-mm receivers (SSA)
- EOS (NASA), MLS (NASA)
- Herschel/HIFI local oscillators (480 GHz to 1100 GHz) (MPIfR, ESA-ESTEC)
- MARFEQ, SAPHIRE, MADRAS (CNES/ISRO): 3 local oscillators
- 37 GHz Direct Detection Receivers
- 50-58 GHz, 90 GHz, 150 GHz, 183 GHz heterodyne Front-End sub-systems
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Todays activities
Currently, RPG Radiometer physics GmbH is involved in various on-going research, development and reliability projects in order to bring the European Schottky technology to the appropriate level of maturity (TRL) for the next generation of weather monitoring polar-orbiting satellite series from ESA/EUMETSAT - MetOp-SG.
- ESTEC "Integrated Schottky Structures" (664 GHz FE, ICI)
- ESTEC "Sub-Millimetre Wave Receiver Front-end" (664 GHz FE, ICI)
- EU/FP7 "Millimeter-Wave Integrated Diode & Amplifier sources" (100 GHz)
- ESTEC/EUMETSAT METOP Second Generation:
- "RPG Sat-B CPI coordination and interface definition support" (OHB)
- MWI/ICI Receiver Performance & Test Requirements definition (TAS-I)
- ESA "Cloud and Precipitation Airborne Radiometer" (118 & 664 GHz FE)
- ESA "Reliability Assessment of mixers and multipliers for microwave imaging radiometers" (166 GHz to 664 GHz receiver FE)
RPG Radiometer physics GmbH has been selected as part of the core-team for the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) instrument led by Airbus Defence and Space - Spain, to develop the Receiver Front-End sub-system. ICI is a Conically Scanning mm/sub-mm Radiometer and includes 5 frequency bands - 13 channels, between 183 GHz and 664 GHz in a feed cluster arrangement.
Artistic view of the MetOp-SG satellites series (Courtesy: ESA/ESTEC).
RPG Radiometer physics GmbH is also involved in the Phase A/B1 of the Submillimeter Wave Instrument (SWI) onboard JUICE, the next L-class planetary mission from ESA to Jupiter. RPG has performed the initial study of the instrument and is now prototyping RF components constitutive of the Local Oscillator for the 600 GHz channel. SWI is an instrument led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen.
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Above: 3D view of the Telescope and Receiver Unit designed by RPG, along with an artistic view from the JUICE mission (Courtesy: ESA/ESTEC).