Rostec has developed a traveling wave tube for Express-RV satellites

MOSCOW, August 1 The Rostec State Corporation's Ruselectronics holding company has developed a traveling wave tube for the Express-RV broadband Internet satellites. It will be possible to more flexibly configure and adjust it to operate in various ranges, the state corporation's press service told journalists.
«The new highly efficient traveling wave tubes developed by engineers at Rostec complement the line of existing products of this type for space systems. The new product differs from previous modifications in its improved characteristics. Thus, its weight is less than 1.2 kilograms, it has compact dimensions, and its service life is 150 thousand hours. Only domestic components are used in the product,» the statement says.

It is noted that the traveling wave tubes for the Express-RV satellites have dual-anode control, which allows for more flexible configuration of the product and regulation of its power supply modes over a wider range. They will operate in the C/Ku frequency range.

«The TWT for the Express-RV spacecraft has become another device in our line of modern, highly efficient domestic onboard lamps. The device is fully compatible with other products of NPP Almaz for space, such as microwave path elements — switches and transitions. The device has successfully passed the tests,» the press service quotes the words of NPP Almaz CEO Mikhail Apin.
According to him, a serial sample of the new traveling wave lamp will be demonstrated for the first time as part of the holding's joint exposition at the Army-2024 forum.
Traveling wave tubes (TWTs) are one of the key elements of all communication satellites. The devices are capable of amplifying signal power hundreds of thousands of times and have a long service life. NPP Almaz has developed more than 40 types of such lamps for spacecraft. In total, the company manufactured and supplied more than 1.5 thousand products, and their total operating time in space exceeded 36 million hours.
It was previously reported that the Express-RV constellation, which will be part of the Sphere multi-satellite system, will consist of four spacecraft in a highly elliptical orbit with a maximum altitude of 40 thousand kilometers. It will provide 24-hour fixed and mobile communications services, including broadband Internet access.