Development of silicon-germanium circuits for high-frequency small satellite-based integrated radiometers

Abstract

Small satellites are increasingly attractive platforms for performing high-quality Earth science radiometric observations. Traditional scientific satellites and instruments are extremely expensive, one-of-a-kind designs with long design cycles. In order to maintain long-term uninterrupted science data collection, re-designing new large satellites and instruments for each application every few decades may not be practical. Small satellites, however, are relatively economical and can be deployed in large constellations to collect global data with high spatial and temporal resolution. These satellites can potentially be manufactured to scale and periodically replaced, enabling practical long-term data collection. Radiometers for these platforms need to be highly integrated and suitable for scale production, assembly, and testing. This necessitates a unique instrument design.