Voyager Technologies is providing communications payloads to Lockheed Martin for NASA’s MUlti-slit Solar Explorer, or MUSE.
MUSE will help scientists understand the processes energizing the Sun’s corona, the outermost region of the Sun’s atmosphere whose eruptions are the foundation of space weather. MUSE will observe the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation and simultaneously and continuously capture the highest-recorded resolution spectra of the corona with simultaneous and continuous rapid imaging.
“Voyager Technologies’ subsystems are workhorses, with proven spaceflight heritage in high-radiation environments – essential to delivering mission critical Telemetry, Tracking & Command communications for MUSE,” said Matt Magaña, president of Defense & National Security at Voyager Technologies. “In fact, our radios far surpassed their two-year design life, operating today aboard NASA’s IRIS satellite, having launched in 2013.”
Voyager Technologies is providing their reconfigurable S-Band Transponder (µSTDN-100™) unit, as well as the mission data transmitter (µKaTx-300™ Ka-Band Transmitter), with a 5W power amplifier unit. These units provide a low-upset rate, making them suitable for long-duration missions with strong radiation requirements.
The S-Band Transponder has flight heritage aboard NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and has interfaced with the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite Systems, Deep Space Network and Near Space Network ground stations. The Ka-Band Transmitter has flight heritage aboard NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
Voyager Technologies is investing to meet new security requirements as cyber and security threats evolve. The S-Band transponder has integrated uplink decryption to protect the satellite command link.
MUSE’s launch is no earlier than 2027.