Telemetry receivers for NASA's Psyche mission provided by GDP Space Systems
NewsFebruary 18, 2021
HORSHAM, Pa. GDP Space Systems announced it will provide ground equipment to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in support of the upcoming Psyche mission. Originally purchased to support previous successful Mars programs, GDP’s telemetry receivers have now been repurposed to test the RF transmitter for the Psyche mission.
According to officials, the critical JPL missions presented a unique and difficult task for the Model 4426 Telemetry Receivers; to support extremely low bit rates and poor signal to noise ratio, down to 10 bits per second with convolutional encoding.
For testing the Psyche transmitter, the receiver is now processing a QPSK signal at 1.08Mbps and is capable of operation up to 40Mbps. The 3rd generation telemetry receiver is designed to provide comprehensive multi-link support for satellite and flight test ground station applications in a fully integrated package.
In addition to the 4-Input Diversity Combiner Function and our Ethernet Outputs supporting IRIG 218-20, IRIG 106 Chapter 7/Chapter 10, and IRIG 106-17 Appendix 2G Best Source Selection (DQE), the Model 4426 product line features an internal 70MHz Test Modulator Output function making it ideal for ground telemetry missions, according to the company.
