Pick-up horn for high power TVAC test of spacecraft payloads for communication satellites

This paper presents a novel method for high power thermal vacuum tests of spacecraft payloads using pick-up horns (PUH). The PUH method has benefits of being cost-effective, compact, easy to implement, does not require breaking the vacuum several times and avoids physical contact with flight hardware. It is designed with four oversized slots to receive the high RF power from the flight horns, absorb almost all the power and efficiently transfer the heat outside the TVAC chamber with minimal reflections back to the horn and minimal RF leakage outside the PUH. The PUH has been successfully used for high power TVAC testing and validation of a Ku-band payload for satellite communications