Canada-Brazil research uses microwave component for applications in telecommunication satellites and data transmission

Research is conducted by a Brazilian company and a Canadian company with a grant from the bilateral program FAPESP-ISTPCanada.

One small component, quite like a cable television splitter (the kind you have at home to send the signal to two receivers) except designed to split telecommunication and other signals on space satellites using microwave frequency, has been the object of intense and lengthy research conducted by a Brazilian company and a Canadian company with a grant from the bilateral program FAPESP-ISTPCanada (International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada).

Célio Costa Vaz, from Orbital Engenharia, who had previously received assistance from the Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (Pipe) to produce solar panels for three satellites manufactured by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), and Rob Schleicher, from COM DEV International Products, presented their project in the first session of FAPESP Week 2012 in Toronto on Wednesday (10/17).

Their Coaxial Power Splitter (CPS) is being tested and qualified in a process that is expected to take several months. They have already spent two years on the design, manufacture and assembly of the component, created to operate on two bands: C (3.4 GHz to 4.3 GHz) and Ku (10.7 GHz to 12.8 GHz).

Orbital’s proposal was one of three approved in the first FAPESP-ISTPCanada request for proposals issued in October 2009 within the scope of the cooperation agreement between the two institutions.

The demand for a high degree of technical sophistication to produce the splitter has led to advances in domestic engineering capacity and qualification of personnel.

The market for this product includes aerospace industry companies like Boeing, Astrium, Lockheed Martin, Loral as well as the governments of countries that produce telecommunication satellites like China, India and Brazil.

Every year, 20 - 25 satellites are launched. Each of them may need 10 - 20 CPS. The process takes approximately 18 - 24 months from the time the order for CPS is made until the satellite is in the air. The component is manufactured to have a expected useful life of 15 years.

Also in the session in which Orbital and COM DEV presented their project was Bharat Rudra, the ISTPCanada Director for Brazil and India. He spoke about his institution and the cooperation agreement in place with FAPESP.

Under the Canadian government, ISTPCanada facilitates the development of new R&D partnerships between Canadian companies, research organizations and similar bodies in other countries. It also invests in cooperative research projects that demonstrate major potential for commercial growth, and it stimulates entrepreneurial activities through partnerships.

Established in 2007, the organization has already conducted 24 requests for proposals together with entities in India, China and Brazil. They have received nearly 1,000 responses from approximately 1,500 partners from Canada and the other two associated countries. Of these, 27 bilateral projects that total US$ 41 million were approved. Among those are the three in partnership with FAPESP.