Ku-band Dual Travelling Wave Tubes delivered for ASTRA 1Q satellite
NewsMarch 12, 2025
PARIS, France. Thales delivered Ku-band Dual Travelling Wave Tubes (Dual-TWTs) for the ASTRA 1Q satellite, which was built by Thales Alenia Space for global content and connectivity provider SES, the company announced in a statement.
The ASTRA 1Q satellite is based on Thales Alenia Space’s Space INSPIRE product line, a software-defined platform designed for in-orbit reconfiguration, the statement reads. The Dual-TWTs will enhance the satellite’s communications and data management capabilities, providing increased performance and operational reliability, the company says.
Thales states that it has deployed over 23,200 TWTs in orbit and continues to expand its spaceborne amplification portfolio with the new Dual-TWTs, which are designed to meet the requirements of active-antenna amplification systems for flexible satellites. The Dual-TWTs are available in Ku- and Ka-band configurations.
The ASTRA 1Q program also received development support from the French space agency CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA) through the ARTES (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems) programs, the statement adds.
