The ACTS propagation campaign

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) is the core of a NASA experiment to advance the state-of-the-art in satellite communications. The quality of data from the ACTS experiments will depend on how accurately rain-fade statistics and fade dynamics can be measured in order to derive an appropriate algorithm that will combat fading for links using small terminals. To address propagation concerns of ACTS and other Ka-band satellites of the future, NASA is sponsoring a propagation campaign which includes seven data collection sites at geographically diverse locations in North America. The author reviews the planning process, hardware development, and measurement program involved in the forthcoming ACTS propagation experiments