Improved one piece SMA hermetically sealed launcher

An hermetically sealed launcher (Figure 1) is intended to join planar circuit structures (microstripline) inside a microwave enclosure to standard coaxial connectors/cable outside the enclosure. Many microwave integrated circuit (MIC) components are deposited on the planar circuit structures without individual protection. Therefore, the entire planar circuit structure must be sealed from the ambient environments since these environments could degrade the performance of the MIC components. An hermetically scaled package is used to protect the circuit structure, necessitating hermetically sealed coaxial connectors (launchers) to permit connection of external microwave transmission lines.