Back Channel — New High-Power Microwave Laboratory, SWOT Launch, Distributable Nodes To Measure HF Radio Waves, And More

By John Oncea, Editor

Back Channel presents the most captivating news and innovations in RF and microwaves. This week, we look at expected growth in the microwave devices market and the global satellite communication market, as well as 3D-Printed Biomedical Devices, and more.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the High-Power Electromagnetic (HPEM), Effects, and Modeling Facility, a 12,000-square-foot, $6 million project, according to the Los Alamos Daily Post. The new facility with 30 office spaces, a secure area, and a nearly 4,000-square-foot high bay laboratory will enhance AFRL’s world-class status as a leading HPEM science and technology organization. The new space will be used for planning, developing, prototyping, testing, and deploying high-powered radio frequency weapons systems in addition to co-locating an entire branch of personnel. “Enabling our staff to work from the same location will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of research and system integration, provide robust collaboration opportunities and enable demonstration of rapid response capabilities,” said Kenneth Miller, chief of the High-Power Electromagnetics Division of AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate.

Research and Markets reports it expects the global microwave devices market to grow from $5.99 billion in 2021 to $6.37 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5%. The microwave devices market is expected to grow to $8.23 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 6.6%, according to a Businesswire release. According to the report, Microwave Devices Global Market Report 2022, North America was the largest region in the microwave devices market in 2021 and Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the microwave devices market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Major players in the microwave devices market are L3 Technologies, API Technologies, Thales Group, Electron Energy Corporation, CableFree, Teledyne U.K. Limited, Toshiba Corporation, CPI International Inc., Cytec Corporation, TMD Technologies Ltd., Richardson Electronics Ltd., Microsemi Corporation, Qorvo Inc, and Texas Instruments.

As we reported earlier, NASA, the French space agency Centre National d ’Études Spatial (CNES), the Canadian Space Agency, and the United Kingdom Space Agency we collaborating to launch a satellite, officially known as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Now, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reports the rocket lifted off on its way to low-Earth orbit at 3:46 a.m. PST on December 16. SWOT will cover the entire Earth’s surface between 78 degrees south and 78 degrees north latitude at least once every 21 days, sending back about one terabyte of unprocessed data per day. The scientific heart of the spacecraft is an innovative instrument called the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn), which marks a major technological advance.

Fact.MR is predicting that, during the forecast period 2022-2032, the satellite communication market is expected to grow at a value of 9.4% CAGR. In 2021, this market was predicted to have a global valuation of $59.32 billion and is expected to reach a sum of $192.09 billion by 2032. This is according to openPR. Other key takeaways from the study include:

• 2022, the global satellite communication market is estimated to have a global market size of $78.22 billion.
• By component segment, the equipment segment will account for 28.5% of the global satellite communication market share in 2022.
• By vertical type, the government and defense segment will acquire a market size of 42% in 2022.
• By application, the broadcasting category is expected to gain a market share of 22.2 and forecast a CAGR of 8.9%.
• The APAC satellite communication market is expected to grow with an 8.5% CAGR during the forecast period.
• North America is projected to acquire 32.1% of the global market share in 2022.

The South China Morning Post reports a Chinese-led team of scientists say they have developed a highly conductive 3D printing ink that can build circuits in hydrogel to create devices that can be used to monitor heart rate and stimulate nerves. First author Hui Yue, then a postdoctoral research fellow at Westlake University’s engineering school in Hangzhou, said 3D structures could be printed in free form in hydrogel – unlike traditional 3D printing where objects are built layer by layer. “We can build circuits in a 3D space without external support,” said Hui, who is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

According to Military Aerospace Electronics, U.S. military researchers will brief the industry next month on an upcoming project to measure high-frequency (HF) radio waves to improve warfighter radio spectrum situational awareness. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will detail the Cancun program for industry from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time on 5 Jan. 2023 at the DARPA Conference Center, 675 N. Randolph St., in Arlington Va. The Cancun program seeks to create distributable nodes to measure HF radio waves for improved warfighter situational awareness. These nodes' low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) will enable cost-effective wide-area deployments. The Cancun nodes will measure the state of the ionosphere using a sounding function and record and relay portions of the HF radio band for analysis.

Construction of the world’s largest radio telescope SKA has begun, according to Globe World News Echo. The radio telescope called “Square Kilometer Array” should help to learn more about the universe and its formation. When fully expanded, the telescope with 131,072 fir-tree-like antennas two meters high in Australia and a further 130 parabolic antennas, each 15 meters in diameter, in South Africa will be able to decipher the secrets of our universe. The two antenna fields extend over large distances. In Australia, the smaller wire antennas are distributed over 65 kilometers, the parabolic mirrors in South Africa over 150 kilometers. The two antenna fields scan the sky in different frequency ranges and look in different directions during regular operation. But if something special happens in space, both telescope fields can be coupled with each other and at the same time take a look at the same object.