An S & X Band, Coaxial Cavity Feed. Photo: Orbit Communications

[Via Satellite 09-30-2014] Orbit Communications Systems has been awarded a $725,000 contract to upgrade a ground station in Alaska for a U.S.-based system integrator. To reduce downtime, the company is performing the upgrade with its Pedestal Interface Unit (PIU) to accelerate the shift from a government analog system to digital without needing to replace the legacy pedestal.

Orbit’s project includes a dual-band antenna assembly, and the solution being provided can replace the S-band feed currently in use with dual S- and X-band auto-tracking equipment. According to Orbit, this boosts the functionality to that of two antennas.

Orbit’s solution is designed to operate in extreme environmental conditions. The Alaskan ground station is used to command and track a constellation of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) Earth Observation (EO) satellites.