Alén Space showcases the advantages of its modular subsystem TREVO in the Satsearch podcast
February 16, 2023
Alén Space was once again the protagonist of a new episode of ‘The Space Industry’, a podcast belonging to Satsearch that aims to share and expand knowledge about companies in the small satellite and New Space sector, as well as the opportunities and challenges of this market through its protagonists and proposals.
This is the second time that one of the members of the Spanish small satellite company team has taken part in this interview, and on this occasion the interview was with María Marante, pre-sales engineer and part of the commercial team.
Episode 47 of the podcast discussed some of the challenges faced by low Earth orbit (LEO) communications missions and how the evolution and development of different payloads can address these needs.
María Marante detailed and explained how the introduction of Software Defined Radio (SDR) brought a new paradigm in the design of communications payloads, as well as offering a configuration design adaptable to the demands of the industry. Similarly, Alén Space has a long experience developing and manufacturing SDRs, something that was highlighted in the interview itself.
In particular, two specific products are being developed in this area: TOTEM, a high-capacity software defined radio under a monolithic architecture, combining a system-on-chip (SoC) with a transceiver; and TREVO, an SDR subsystem with a modular design, which allows users to select the number of SoCs and transceivers according to the satellite mission requirements.
Special attention was placed on the latter product because of its capability, in terms of hardware, of customisation and design flexibility, hosting in a single SDR platform several RF frontends (UHF, VHF and S-band) and a multitude of applications in different frequency bands.
In addition, and in words of María Marante, “When designing TREVO, our new SDR platform, we wanted to convey the philosophy and versatility that defines our team, a powerful and flexible communications platform that responds as quickly as possible to the new challenges of the industry.”
Finally, it was highlighted that TREVO is expected to be launched into orbit this year, guaranteeing its reliability and efficiency.
Listen to the full podcast: