Measurement of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power during Early Cruise

The X-band (8400- to 8450-MHz) frequency allocation currently used for deepspace telecommunications is not sufficiently wide to accommodate future highdata-rate communication requirements. As a result, future high-rate missions will be transitioning to higher frequency allocations such as Ka-band (31,800 to 32,300 MHz). These higher frequency band allocations are more susceptible to weather effects, resulting in much larger fluctuations in received signal strength than at X-band. A fully functioning Ka-band communications system was implemented on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and launched in 2005 to develop and demonstrate Ka-band operational concepts and capabilities. This article will discuss activities performed at the DSS-13 34-m-diameter research and development beam-waveguide antenna, conducted primarily for the purpose of characterizing the equivalent isotropic radiated power of the MRO spacecraft during early cruise.