New Perspectives in the WAVE W-Band Satellite Project

In 2004 ASI funded phase-A of the WAVE satellite mission, a feasibility study to design and develop a W-band geostationary payload. The aim was to perform experimental studies of the W-band channel and possible utilization in satellite data communications and data-relay services. The next phase of this project will address the experimental-only nature of W-band and the strategic relevance of making investments towards the development of the payload by performing preliminary experiments, such as the Aero-WAVE mission. The Aero-WAVE mission is presented as a basic test to provide the necessary measures leading to the development of the primary mission into GEO orbit. Acro-WAVE is a scientific payload that operates in W-band. It will be embarked on-board a stratospheric platform or High Altitude Platform (HAP) in order to perform a first test of the channel behaviour at an altitude of about 20 km. The stratospheric platform is a high altitude aircraft known as the M-55 Geophysica, a Russian aircraft well known in the atmospheric research environment and the European scientific community since 1996. The M-55 Geophysica will be equipped with the payload instrumentation to carry out the measurements. These measurements and the resulting data provided throughout the Aero-WAVE mission will give good indications of the channel behaviour at different weather conditions and at different locations within the GEO-WAVE coverage.