ReQuTech — Enabling the Success of LEO and MEO Satellite Constellations

ReQuTech stands for Research, Quality and Technology and has a clear vision to be the ‘Go - To’ Antenna Terminal designer and manufacturer for the high-end SATCOM and Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) Communications market.

ReQuTech was founded in 2009 in Stockholm Sweden for Research and development of advanced antenna solutions. Based in Sweden, the companies research heritage has always directed its path towards finding the engaging in the latest technology development. The technology leaps have throughout the years supported the company growth and business, including development within High-Throughput Satellite technology (HTS), launch of one of the first Ka band feed systems, Ka band maritime antenna solutions as well as the first mesh based fully electronically scanned antennas called the RESA series (ReQuTech Electronically Scanned Antennas).

In 2019 ReQuTech was awarded the ORION Phased Array research project with the European Space Agency (ESA) and launched the PICO flyaway terminals in 2020. In 2021 we launched the RESA phased array terminals. ReQuTech now stands at the forefront of SATCOM with over 100 clients and have established partnerships together with global leaders.

ReQuTech offers a portfolio of SATCOM terminals for Non-Geostationary Satellite Communications (NGSO SATCOM).

The launch of the new satellite mega-constellations in Low and Medium-Earth Orbit by companies like OneWeb and SES, means that satisfying the demand for high speed, low latency global communications is becoming a reality. The success of these LEO and MEO constellations rests on the usability and performance of their Earth-based user terminals.

RESA is an excellently engineered design taking advantage of ReQuTech’s engineering team’s many years of experience in developing phased array radars. This experience, knowledge, the use of tried-and-tested techniques and materials means the development and ongoing supply is extremely low risk. RESA is available in Ku- or Ka band.

ReQuTech’s solution delivers a terminal in full compliance with the satellite constellation requirements. ReQuTech achieves this by putting a lot of effort into terminal characterization over thousands of hours of measurements conducted in ReQuTech’s in-house anechoic test chamber.

RESA is a modular, highly flexible solution allowing the same basic design to be used for different applications whether the primary demand is for data rate, small footprint/space shape (SWaP) or platform (maritime, airborne, terrestrial). The flexibility allows for quick development of new terminal types for various applications built on the same software and hardware platform.

The RESA can be provided as a fully integrated terminal, an extremely easy to install, plug and play solution with the sensors, modem and amplifiers all integrated within one radome. RESA can also be provided with some components such as modem and/or GPS mounted externally.

LEO User Terminals

LEO SATCOM needs ground station terminals that can track, stay locked on to, and reacquire satellite signals despite the terminal and satellite ‘moving’ relative to each other. The physical demands on the user terminal are that it needs to be low weight, low profile, incredibly robust, and maintenance free. Simultaneously, it has to be scalable for use in different applications and have extremely fast beam switching for seamless handover. The only type of antenna that meets these requirements is the phased array antenna.

RESA is a solid-state terminal with no moving parts. The electronically scanned beam can search the whole sky in milliseconds, making it ideal for LEO satellites and more importantly for the communications on the move application. As a true phased array with control over the phase and amplitude of every element, RESA can generate multiple beams to assist with scanning and handover. In fact, as many beams can be created as there are tiles, however, each beam takes up aperture real estate.

RESA can deliver a single communications channel with a single modem to maximize data throughput, able to switch to multi-beam for handover and scanning. Also the system can be delivered with multiple simultaneous channels with several modems integrated. Much has been made of multi-orbit, multi-channel communications but ReQuTech feels that trying to do this with a single antenna leads to over-expensive and over-complicated solutions. This approach leads to unnecessarily large antennas with large parts of the terminal being redundant much of the time. This cancels the major advantage of NGSO’s proximity to the Earth allowing for smaller antennas.

RESA Mesh

ReQuTech’s solution to this is MESH networkability. All RESA terminals have the capability to work in a network over WLAN or wired together. This means that one RESA can be communicating over a LEO network via the modem assigned by that constellation while another RESA can be communicating over a GEO network through a different modem. These communication channels can be merged across the MESH. The MESH network is also available for use on platforms such as ships, where superstructure can block the signal. The RESA’s will work together, seamlessly handing over between them. The low profile and weight make them ideal for maritime applications.

RESA Key Features

• Flexibility: Same technology core can be used on any platform: sea, land, air for SOTM or SOTP
• Tailorability: Radome can be adapted to fit any platform or configuration
• Modularity: Tile-based architecture
• Scalability: Throughput, EIRP, G/T based on customer requirements
• Manufacturability: Many components are common between the RESA variants making RESA’s easy to manufacture in volume.
• Full duplex communications
• Low weight: Approx 20kg
• Low profile: <15cm
• Robust IP67and MILSTD pathway
• Maintenance free
• Fast beam switching
• MESH networkability
• Electronically controlled polarization

Please look at requtech.com/phased-array-terminals for more information.

Parabolic Solutions for MEO Satellite Constellations

Designed to work in pairs, the PICO120aMEO can constantly track MEO satellites. The single modem helps with handover between the satellites as they pass horizon to horizon. The antennas have been innovatively designed to avoid the keyhole effect while keeping construction as simple and robust as possible.

Designed for constant 24/7 use in all weather, these antennas are extremely robust and use state-of-the-art components and motors to make sure the customer never loses communications. Working closely with SES, the terminals fully meet the requirements for O3b mPOWER SATCOM and have been tested extensively at their site in Luxembourg. The antennas come with a Ka-band 4-port feed for both Co-pol and Cross-pol communications.

Multi Orbit MEO/GEO Terminal

For maximum flexibility these terminals can be shipped as a pair for MEO operation, or as a single GEO auto-pointing terminal.

Conforming to ReQuTech’s design philosophy of modularity and flexibility, these antennas can also be used in GEO applications.They can be supplied with interchangeable feeds/RF chains for X-, Ku- and other Ka- frequency bands allowing them to be used with any satellite constellation when not being used for MEO.

PICO120aMEO Key Features

• 1.2 m segmented carbon fiber reflector for high strength and low weight
• MEO compliant and tested on SES mPOWER
• Fully integrated auto-point fly-away terminal
• RAPU (ReQuTech Auto-Point Unit): ACU, Beacon receiver, control, monitor and sensor kit module
• Android Mercury App for quick satellite acquisition
• High performance interchangeable feeds for X, Ku and Ka bands
• Highly robust construction and toolless deployment
• Eutelsat characterized at Ku band
• ITU-R S.465 compliant
• Delivered in robust packing cases

Please look at requtech.com/products/pico120a-leomeogeo/ for more information.