SWISSto12 partners with Thales for HummingSat power amplifiers
January 31, 2023
SWISSto12, a provider of additively manufactured antenna and radio frequency (RF) system products headquartered in Renens, Switzerland, has signed its first contract with global technology provider Thales. Through this partnership, Thales will develop and supply the Ka-band Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) that will be a key component of the antenna link between earth and the HummingSat telecommunications satellites.
The SSPA amplifiers from Thales will be part of the array antenna of the HummingSat payload. Intended to be more compact, less expensive, optimised for size & weight, and with highly integrated electronics, these amplifiers are said to be well suited to the needs of new small-sized geostationary (GEO) satellites like HummingSat.
These technologies are the result of successful collaboration within the Thales organisation, wherein a dedicated team developed SSPA products that intended to meet the time-to-market and design-to-cost requirements of customers. Thales expects to achieve qualification of its SSPA product line in 2024.
“We are delighted to be pursuing this collaboration with Thales, a world leader in satellite power amplification,” stated Dr Emile de Rijk, founder and CEO of SWISSto12. “The cutting-edge technology from Thales has been developed in close connection with our antenna solutions and is a strong match for the telecommunications infrastructure offered by the HummingSat product line. Our platform is a showcase for the disruptive technologies emerging in Europe’s space landscape and offers the capacity, performance and flexibility that satellite operators need to address previously under-served markets.”
Cécile Assié, VP Strategy and Marketing, Microwave and Imaging Subsystems, Thales, concluded, “ Technical innovation is part of the DNA of Thales’s Microwave and Imaging Subsystems business, and we’re delighted to be collaborating with such a dynamic and agile company for the development of a state-of-the-art Ka-band SSPA product for Swissto12’s HummingSat platform.”
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