PLATONE: a payload for climate monitoring and telecommunication experiments through millimetric waves

Considering the convergence of research activities in the field of telecommunications and weather-climate observations toward the use of millimetre wavelengths, ARES (Advanced Research and Engineering for Space), a consortium constituted both by the University of Rome Tor Vergata and industrial partners (Rheinmetall Italy, TECS/TEchnological Consulting Services), has recently submitted a proposal for a feasibility study to investigate an innovative payload devoted both to Earth remote sensing and to high frequency telecommunications. Both the payload applications are based on the common use of millimetric band to capitalize on the favorable characteristics of such high frequencies. The study is called PLATONE (PayLoad ad Alta tecnologia per Telecomunicazioni ed Osservazione integrato con ricevitore software radio di NavigazionE, Italian acronym standing for the greek word PLATON, PayLoad for Advanced Telecommunication, Observation and Navigation). This paper aims at presenting the preliminary results of PLATONE study and its main objectives, outlining the main trade-offs that will be considered, waiting for the start of Phase A. ©2010 IEEE