Callisto is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by Morehead State University, Kentucky, USA to supply an X Band Cryo Compact Low Noise Amplifier (LNA).
The equipment is to be installed on the existing 21m radio telescope at Morehead State and will used for receiving telemetry from the Lunar IceCube spacecraft which is due to be launched in 2018.
Lunar IceCube is a 6U CubeSat spacecraft designed to prospect for water in solid, liquid, and vapor forms from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit. It was selected through NASA's NestSTEP program. The program is a partnership between Morehead State University, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, JPL, the Busek Company, Vermont Tech, and Kentucky Space LLC. Lunar IceCube will be deployed during lunar trajectory by the Space Launch System and use an innovative RF Ion engine to achieve lunar capture and the final orbit to investigate the distribution of water on the lunar surface. Lunar IceCube will include a compact version of a Broadband InfraRed Compact High Resolution Spectrometer developed by GSFC.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/lunar-icecube-to-take-on-big-mission-from-small-package
The data communication from the Lunar IceCube instruments to scientists on Earth will be done using X-Band radio frequencies (8.4-8.5GHz). Because of the small size of the spacecraft and limited on-board power, the signal strength that can be transmitted is very small compared other lunar exploration spacecraft, which have flown before. For this reason a very sensitive Ground Station is required to receive the precious data. Callisto's ultra low noise cryo compact LNA combined with the Morehead 21m antenna will allow the data to be received successfully.
"This contract represents an important milestone for Callisto" says Steve Rawson CEO, "it is our first order from the USA and our first association with a NASA mission."
"The order comes after the appointment of Intertronic Solutions as our N. American representative earlier this year." (www.intertronicsolutions.com).
For more details on Callisto's cryo compact LNA range see :