Session
Technical Session V: Sensors and Instrumentations
Abstract
Space-qualified precision quartz oscillators are ideal instruments for use aboard small satellites as the heart of the spacecraft navigation system as well as for other applications such as radio science experiments, pseudorandom communications, and altimetry. This paper provides information on the history of precision quartz oscillator use aboard small satellites and discusses potential applications and design tradeoffs. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory pioneered the use of precision quartz oscillators in small satellites in 1958. Current performance parameters of oscillators designed by the Applied Physics Laboratory will be presented along with mass and power considerations.
Precision Quartz Oscillators and Their Use in Small Satellites
Space-qualified precision quartz oscillators are ideal instruments for use aboard small satellites as the heart of the spacecraft navigation system as well as for other applications such as radio science experiments, pseudorandom communications, and altimetry. This paper provides information on the history of precision quartz oscillator use aboard small satellites and discusses potential applications and design tradeoffs. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory pioneered the use of precision quartz oscillators in small satellites in 1958. Current performance parameters of oscillators designed by the Applied Physics Laboratory will be presented along with mass and power considerations.
