A new opportunity for EHF propagation experiments: the EXPRESS campaign with the satellite STENTOR

STENTOR is a collaborative programme between CNES, France Telecom, Alcatel Space and Astrium Space. The STENTOR satellite is planned to be launched in the autumn of 2001. Apart from the Ku-band telecommunication payload designed to test active antennas and digital transponders, an EHF payload funded by DGA (Delegation Generale pour l'Armement=French Ministry of Defence) will be devoted to propagation and transmission experiments. The transmission mission uses a 44/20 GHz transparent repeater and is aimed to test new signal processing methods in the context of future military satellite telecommunication systems. The propagation mission will consist of two high-frequency beacons, the first one at 20.7 GHz and the second one at 41.4 GHz with a European and an Equatorial coverage. The propagation experiment called EXperimentation of PRopagation in the EHF-band from STENTOR Satellite (EXPRESS) will be devoted to the evaluation of the influence of propagation impairments on future satellite communication systems and will provide a new opportunity for EHF experimenters. The objective of this paper is to give the information available on this project. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.