Inside Frequency Control

In 1994, the world's first digital satellite TV services were launched in Thailand and South Africa. They utilized the newly developed Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite (DVB-S) system.

Over time, DVB-S became the most popular system for delivering digital TV broadcasts. Technology has advanced and spread tremendously since then, which lead to an increased need for advances to the DVB-S system. Thus, the DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X systems were born!

Let's take a look at these two DVB standards and the main differences between them. 

We can't possibly be the only intelligent life-forms in this infinite universe, can we? I mean, there's still plenty of exploring to do in our own solar system let alone nearby stars, our entire galaxy, and surrounding galaxies. Will our current deep space communication efforts, like Voyager 1, ever stumble across alien life so us humans can say, "Hi! We're here!"? Or will it take so long that our messages would be more like, "Hi! We were here!"? 

Let's explore some current communication efforts to make contact with aliens and how they work.

Since the beginning of NASA, radio communication has been the go-to method of communication for spacecrafts. Well, that's about to change. NASA has recently announced they will be making a major change to some of their upcoming communication systems by implementing new, cutting-edge, laser communication technology. 

Electronic warfare (EW) is a continuous competition between electronic countermeasures (ECM) and electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM). Electronic warfare systems deploy millions of sensors worldwide on a wide range of platforms such as IR, Acoustic, Radio, and Optic systems, all in the coordinated effort to harness and control the RF (radio frequency) spectrum, the highly contested electronic battlespace.

To say that HRL Laboratories has made significant contributions to cutting-edge science and technology would be quite an understatement. Known today by its legal corporate title HRL Laboratories LLC, the storied company traces its roots back to the legendary Howard Hughes. Hughes set the standard for HRL's innovative mission, advising his contemporaries to "Do the impossible. Because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasy."

We've been doing a lot of talk about the new space movement and the newest LEO constellation innovations. It's about time that we bring to your attention that LEO constellatioins aren't the only innovation when it comes to the new space (or space 2.0) movement. As technology and payloads of satellites continue to skyrocket (ha!), so does our ability to efficiently explore the deep, dark depths of outer space.

In Part 1 of our series on COTS components for space applications, we discussed why the government is increasingly turning to “commercial off the shelf” parts for spacecraft, satellites and more. COTS parts have already been successfully adopted in many military applications, but when it comes to space, COTS adoption has been much slower.

Space exploration has never been cheap. In the days of the Apollo program, the cost of sending payloads into space was such that only government agencies with billions of dollars to spend could afford it. Over time, those costs have begun to come down, but even with advances in launch technology, funding for such activities ebbs and flows. In the wake of budget cuts for military and aerospace Research and Development, there has been much pressure to develop systems and designs that meet the needs of space projects and reduce costs without sacrificing quality. This is where COTS (Commercial Off-The Shelf) products offer a potential solution.

Small satellites have grown dramatically over the past decade... and they are still growing fast and furiously. In this post, you'll learn about how to achieve mission success for satellites and how GPS Disciplined Oscillators (GPSDOs) can do the trick.