Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF
The continuously growing need for higher data rates as well as globally available broadband internet requires innovative technology developments and the exploitation of a new electromagnetic spectrum. In the scope of R&D projects funded by the German Aerospace Center, researchers at the University of Stuttgart together with partners, one of which Fraunhofer IAF, have developed a high-performance technology platform to exploit the frequency spectrum in the so-called E-band at 71-86 GHz. State-of-the-art transmissions in terrestrial radio relay and the first gigabit data transmission between an aircraft and a ground station motivate verifying this technology in the space environment.
This is where the »EIVE« research project comes in, with the world's first in-orbit verification of a communication link in the E-band: Within the scope of this project, the partners plan to provide a broadband data downlink in the previously unused frequency range of 71-76 GHz from a nanosatellite to a ground station.