News: Microelectronics
13 July 2022
Mission Microwave wins $8m follow-on order for SATCOM terminal upgrade program
Mission Microwave Technologies LLC of Cypress, CA, USA, which manufactures gallium nitride (GaN)-based solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) and block up-converters (BUCs), has confirmed an $8m order for the continuation of a major upgrade program for a customer supporting a US Government requirement.
Mission Microwave engineers worked with their customer to create an upgrade path for the US Government to replace legacy traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTA)-based block upconverters (BUCs) with solid-state BUCs, based on GaN technology, to upgrade a fleet of widely deployed transportable terminals. The initial upgrades started in late 2019 and, prior to this recent award, over 100 sets of Ku- and Ka-band BUCs have been delivered to Mission Microwave’s customer on the program.
Mission Microwave is providing 200W Ka-band and 400W Ku-band BUCs to replace legacy TWTA-based upconverters. The firm says that its competency in designing compact and highly efficient amplifiers has enabled its customer to offer an upgrade path that will extend the life and improve the utility of this tactical SATCOM terminal fleet.
“The end-users of our products rely on SATCOM system providers to bring the benefits of solid-state designs to the tactical edge,” says Steve Richeson, VP of sales & marketing. “We worked with our customers’ engineering team to navigate the complexities of the upgrade and certification process for these terminals,” he adds. “We expect the established trend of replacing high-power TWTAs with SSPAs to be a significant market for the foreseeable future, led by our recent additions of 400W Ka-band and 800W X-band BUCs to our product line.”
