Space-Qualified Traveling-Wave Tube

The L-3 Communications Electron Technologies, Inc. Model 999HA traveling-wave tube (TWT), was developed for use as a high-power microwave amplifier for high-rate transmission of data and video signals from deep space to Earth (see figure). The 999HA is a successor to the 999H a non-space qualified TWT described in High-Power, High-Efficiency Ka-Band Traveling-Wave Tube (LEW-17900-1), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 31, No. 2 (February 2007), page 32. Operating in the 31.8-to-32.3 GHz frequency band, the 999HA has been shown to generate 252 W of continuous- wave output power at 62 percent overall power efficiency a 75-percent increase in output power over the 999H. The mass of the 999HA is 35 percent less than that of the 999H. Moreover, taking account of the elimination of a Faraday cage that is necessary for operation of the 999H but is obviated by a redesign of high-voltage feed-throughs for the 999HA, the overall reduction in mass becomes 57 percent with an 82 percent reduction in volume. Through a series of rigorous tests, the 999HA has been qualified for operation aboard spacecraft with a lifetime exceeding seven years. Offspring of the 999HA will fly on the Kepler and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions.