C-Band Transmitter Experimental (CTrEX) Test at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR)

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) anticipated the eventual sell off of a portion of the Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry (AMT) frequency spectrum (from 1755-1780 and 2155-2180 MHz), prompting the telemetry (TM) community to start designing and testing systems capable of operating in a portion of the C-Band spectrum (4400-4940 MHz and 5091-5150 MHz) several years ago. On December 17, 2014 the NAVY targets office at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) launched the first in a series of C-band and S-band instrumented Orion vehicles to provide RF transmitted data products for ground system collection and in-depth analysis. This paper presents the first C-band Transmitter Experimental (CTrEX) high-dynamic, spinning vehicle test at WSMR and summarizes the initial findings along with a path forward for future CTrEX rocket tests.