A Dynamic Channel Emulator for CubeSat Testing

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Failure of the communication subsystem has been responsible for approximately 20% of small satellite mission failures over the period between 2000 and 2019. Insufficient system-level integration and testing has been cited as one reason why corrective actions weren’t taken to prevent such failures before launch. The dynamic channel emulator presented here will permit designers of CubeSats operating at frequencies up to 20 GHz to evaluate their spacecraft’s communications subsystem over multiple simulated passes with the spacecraft in as close to flight condition as possible including fully deployed antennas. It will confirm that the communications subsystem will function correctly while experiencing: 1) path loss and Doppler shift, 2) random fading due to satellite motion or rain fading, and 3) noise, interference, or scintillation that perfectly matches what would be experienced during actual passes,

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