NASA's Evolving Ka-Band Network Capabilities to Meet Mission Demand

Space missions are increasingly demanding higher data rates to support the growth in informationintensive mission operations. This growth is reflected in planned and operational missions from low Earth orbit, such as the upcoming NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) and Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) missions, to the future Artemis lunar campaign, and the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) orbiting at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. JWST was the first L2 mission to be defined as a high data rate mission transmitting at 28 Megabits per second (Mbps), or 270 Gigabits of science data per day. NISAR and PACE anticipate achieving data volumes of 5-40 Terabits per day. These data rates and data volumes exceed the practical capabilities of S-band and X-band frequency allocations and are a key driver for migrating to the 26 GHz Ka-band frequency allocation.The NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program has been preparing the networks to support this demand by pursuing critical Ka-band infrastructure. The status of current and evolving network capability, including the Near Space Network’s Initiative for Ka-band Advancement (NIKA), and the Deep Space Network’s Lunar Exploration Upgrades (DLEU), as well as profiling mission usage of Ka-band services, are discussed in detail. The push toward Ka-band, is not only an opportunity for increased performance, but alleviates current challenges with contentious and cluttered spectrum access in S- and X-band. The paper provides an overview of these advantages and advanced techniques that optimize its use before the transition to optical communications becomes an imperative. The challenges and potential mitigations for missions considering selection of Ka-band network services are also discussed.

航天任务对更高数据传输速率的需求日益攀升，以支撑信息密集型任务运营的发展。这一需求增长体现在各类已规划与在轨运行的航天任务中：从近地轨道的美国国家航空航天局（National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA）-印度空间研究组织（Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO）合成孔径雷达（Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR）任务、浮游生物、气溶胶、云和海洋生态系统（Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and Ocean Ecosystem, PACE）任务，到未来的阿尔忒弥斯（Artemis）登月计划，以及近日发射的运行于日地L2拉格朗日点的詹姆斯·韦布空间望远镜（James Webb Space Telescope, JWST）。詹姆斯·韦布空间望远镜是首个被定位为高数据速率任务的L2轨道任务，其传输速率可达28兆比特每秒（Megabits per second, Mbps），单日科学数据传输量达270吉比特。NISAR与PACE任务的单日数据总量预计可达5至40太比特。此类数据速率与数据规模已超出S波段与X波段频率分配的实际承载能力，这成为向26 GHz Ka波段迁移频率分配的核心驱动力。美国国家航空航天局空间通信与导航（Space Communications and Navigation, SCaN）项目正通过部署关键Ka波段基础设施，为满足这一需求做好网络准备。本文详细探讨了当前及演进中的网络能力现状，包括近地空间网络Ka波段推进倡议（Near Space Network’s Initiative for Ka-band Advancement, NIKA）、深空网络月球探测升级项目（Deep Space Network’s Lunar Exploration Upgrades, DLEU），并对任务方使用Ka波段服务的情况进行了剖析。向Ka波段过渡不仅是提升传输性能的机遇，同时也缓解了当前S波段与X波段频谱接入存在的争议与频谱拥挤难题。本文概述了上述优势，以及在向光通信过渡成为必然趋势前，可用于优化Ka波段使用的先进技术。此外，本文还讨论了任务方在选择Ka波段网络服务时可能面临的挑战与潜在解决方案。