TeraNet aims to establish a three-node optical ground station network in Australia to support high-speed data downlinking from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond. The network is comprised of two 0.7m static ground stations situated at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Mingenew Space Precinct (300km north of UWA), and one 0.4m mobile ground station that will initially be commissioned at the European Space Agency’s Deep Space Network ground station in New Norcia (100km north of UWA). This network, strategically located with southern sky access and sharing a time zone with ⪆24% of the world’s population, will enhance global coverage and meet the evolving needs of international space missions. Additionally, the three-node architecture will offer unique opportunities to explore LEO line-of-sight handover during adverse weather conditions. Construction of this network has commenced, with two ground stations already on sky. We will present on our progress and preliminary results.
Next-generation radio telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), require precise microwave frequency reference signals to be transmitted over fiber links to each dish to coherently sample astronomical signals. Such telescopes employ phase stabilization systems to suppress the phase noise imparted on the reference signals by environmental perturbations on the links; however, the stabilization systems are bandwidth limited by the round-trip time of light traveling on the fiber links. A phase-locked receiver module (RM) is employed on each dish to suppress residual phase noise outside the round-trip bandwidth. The SKA RM must deliver a 3.96-GHz output signal with 4 MHz of tuning range and <100 fs of timing jitter. We present an RM architecture to meet both requirements. Analytical modeling of the RM predicts 30 fs of output jitter when the reference signal is integrated between 1 Hz and 2.8 GHz. The proposed RM was conceived with best practice electromagnetic compatibility in mind and to meet size, weight, and power requirements for the SKA dish indexer. As the ngVLA reference design also incorporates a round-trip phase stabilization system, this RM may be applicable to future ngVLA design.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.