Callisto is proud to announce the award of a new study for the European Space Agency.
The objective is to study and investigate solutions for building ground stations for future Deep Space missions for exploration of the outer reaches of the solar system. In the coming decades ESA is planning to send spacecraft to explore the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn. In order to communicate with spacecraft at distances of up to 1 billion kms from the Earth, a new generation of Ground Stations will be required with much greater sensitivity in reception and power for transmission. The solutions which will be investigated will include the option of building a very large antenna greater than 70m diameter, or building an array of smaller antennas which can be combined together. The study will address not only the engineering challenges associated with the various options, but also the cost, with a clear goal of identifying the most cost effective approach.
The project will be undertaken in two main stages. The 1st. stage covers the preliminary feasibility analysis and trade-off studies to identify two most promising solutions. The 2nd stage involves the detailed analysis of the two architectures and final cost trade-off.
Callisto will be supported in this activity by a team including:
· University of Pavia Department of Electronics, which will be responsible for the analysis of antenna and antenna array performance.
· Zelinda Ireland Limited, which will be responsible for the array processing design analysis.