NuWaves Engineering has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to research and develop advanced RF cavity filters for use on Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellites.
NuWaves worked with Exelis Geospatial Systems’ Positioning, Navigation and Timing business located in Clifton, New Jersey, to propose an innovative method to dramatically reduce the size and weight of space-based diplexers, triplexers, and quadruplexers – or “n-plexers” – for multi-carrier RF combining by incorporating specialized inserts within the filter cavities. The proposed design also supports wider bandwidths and higher signal power levels than previous generation n-plexer solutions. As a culmination of the Phase I SBIR project, NuWaves expects to develop and fabricate one or more filter prototypes.
Their solution has the potential to drive a significant reduction in the GPS III satellite’s launch weight, reducing cost to orbit.
