The SDR from Blue Canyon Technologies is a space-qualified software-defined radio designed to provide flexible uplink, downlink, and crosslink communications for small satellite missions. Supporting multiple frequency bands, it operates with downlink frequencies of 2.2–2.5 GHz (S-band), 8–8.5 GHz (X-band), and 21–33 GHz (Ka-band), while accommodating uplink frequencies of 1.76–1.84 GHz (L-band), 2.0–2.11 GHz (S-band) and 21–33 GHz (Ka-band). This full-duplex SDR delivers data rates of up to 100 Mbps and provides adjustable RF output power with levels reaching +35 dBm, enabling high-throughput communications.
It supports advanced modulation schemes including BPSK, OQPSK, QPSK, 8PSK and 16APSK, allowing mission operators to optimize link performance according to bandwidth and power requirements. The radio integrates support for industry-standard communication protocols including CCSDS-TC for uplink operations and CCSDS-TM and DVB-S2 for downlink transmission, ensuring interoperability with modern satellite communication infrastructures. Its flexible architecture enables software-configurable operation, allowing adaptation to mission requirements without hardware modifications.
The SDR operates from a supply voltage range of 9–34 V and consumes as little as 1.8 W in uplink mode, providing efficient power utilization for resource-constrained spacecraft. Available in CubeSat and MicroSat configurations, the radio is offered in compact form factors ranging from 3.15 × 3.2 × 0.63 inches for S/X-band variants to 4.35 × 4.48 × 1.25 inches for Ka-band configurations, enabling seamless integration into a variety of satellite platforms. Versatile and high-performance, the Blue Canyon Technologies SDR is ideal for small satellite communications, telemetry and telecommand, payload data transmission, inter-satellite links and next-generation software-defined space communication architectures.
