DESIGN STUDY

UNDER A CURRENT AFWAL CONTRACT, AND UNDER INTERNAL SPONSORSHIP, LNR COMMUNICATIONS, INC. HAS DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED BRASSBOARD 20 W, 20 GHZ PATT SOLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS (SSPA'S) WITH A 1 GHZ BANDWIDTH AND IN BOTH 4 AND 8-WAY COMBINATORIAL CONFIGURATIONS. THUS, SINCE ALL OF THE BASIC EHF TECHNOLOGY FOR A 20 GHZ SSPA ARE WELL ESTABLISHED AT LNR, THE STRESS OF THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL NOT BE ON THE BASIC DESIGN TECHNOLOGY PER SE, BUT WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE NECESSARY DESIGN TRADE-OFFS AND CONFIGURATION STUDIES TO MAXIMIZE COMPATABILITY WITH SPACECFRAFT ENVIRONMENT. WITH THE CURRENT AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY, THE SSPA CAN DE CONFIGURED WITH VARIOUS COMBINATIONAL GEOMETRIES, EACH HAVING DIFFERENT HEAT FLOW PATHS AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF HOT SPOTS, ETC. THEREFORE, IT OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO DETERMINE WHICH CONFIGURATION IS MOST SUITED FO COMPATABILITY WITH THE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE SPACECRAFT AND TO DETERMINE THE EXPECTED CAPABILITY OF HEAT TRANSFER IN SPACE. WE THEREFORE PROPOSE A 6 MONTH COMPREHENSIVE TRADE-OFF STUDY TO OPTIMIZE THE THE INTERFACING OF THE GENERAL PROPERTIES OF THE SSPA WITH THE ALLOWABLE CONDITIONS OF A SPACE ENVIRONMENT BASED ON PROPERLY WEIGHTED INPUTS FROM SPACECFRAFTTRACTORS AND END USERS. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL RESULT IN A FINAL REPORT PRESENTING AND OPTIMIZED 20 GHZ SSPA DESIGN APPLICABLE TO THE SUBSEQENT IMPLEMENTATION OF A "FULL UP" SPACE QUALIFIED MODEL. 1