TRAK completed qualification and delivery of the final batch of FMs for the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission some months ago. Once functional testing has been completed in Thales Alenia Space’s Turin facility the payload will be then be shipped to ESA’s European Space Research and Technology center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to start environmental tests.
TRAK Microwave Limited supplied a total of 86 QMs and FMs to 4 customers for use aboard both the European and Japanese modules. In addition to high power isolators featured in the images within this article TRAK has supplied coaxial and stripline isolators .
BepiColombo will commence it’s 6 year voyage to Mercury in 2016 when it launches aboard an Arianespace 5 rocket from the European spaceport at Kourou. The primary goal of this ambitious mission is a detailed study of the planet Mercury and its environment.
The image above shows the structural model of Thales Alenia Space’s Radio Frequency Distribution Network (RFDN) into which the TRAK 140W CW X-band high power isolators will be integrated.
TRAK has supplied frequency and peak/average power variations in X-Band for the ExoMars and Solar Orbiter missions and will later this month deliver Ka-band high power isolators to JHAPL for the Solar Probe Plus mission to the Sun.
