Rakon has announced that the company’s Master Reference Oscillator (MRO) subsystem has been selected by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for an on-orbit mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).
Rakon’s MRO will play a key role as part of the payload for the DLR’s ‘COMPASSO’ on-orbit validation project to test new optical technologies on the Bartolomeo platform attached to the ISS. These optical technologies will significantly improve future generations of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the European Galileo system, by delivering greater positioning accuracy and reducing ground infrastructure size and complexity.
Rakon’s MRO subsystem delivers highly accurate and ultra-stable frequencies and timing that enable communications and synchronization for satellites and other space infrastructure. Powered by Rakon’s proprietary, ultra-stable, oscillator technology, the MRO ensures unparalleled reliability with uninterrupted frequency stability and timing.
For the COMPASSO project, Rakon’s MRO will facilitate comparative measurements of the optical technologies being tested (assessing the frequency stability in the relevant time-period) to compare their performance against existing systems.
Rakon is a top-3 supplier for its space subsystem products and, earlier in 2024, the company announced multi-million dollar contract wins to supply its MRO subsystems for two, new, LEO satellite constellations.
