50W L-band and 25W Ku-band SSPA for European Space Programs

This paper describes state of art solid state power amplifiers developed in the frame of two major European Space Programs (Galileo and Cryosat), using the most advanced technologies fully qualified for space applications. Three types of 50W SSPA have been developed in L-band for Galileo, and one 25W SSPA in Ku-band has been developed for the SIRAL instrument on board Cryosat. Highly reliable technologies have been used to meet the very stringent space standards. In the next few years, GaN technologies may offer substantial improvements for spaceborne SSPA.