W BAND FOR SPACE TO SPACE AND SPACE TO GROUND SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

This thesis analyzes and experimentally validates satellite communication techniques in the W-band (75–110 GHz), a frequency range that offers wide transmission capacity but poses challenges related to atmospheric losses and sensitivity to environmental conditions. The work combines theoretical analysis, numerical simulations, and experimentation. Realistic scenarios were simulated for the calculation of the link budget, which highlighted how space–ground links are strongly affected by atmospheric propagation, while inter-satellite links exhibit promising performance. Subsequently, the transmission and reception chain was modeled in GNU Radio, allowing the study of noise, offset, and distortion effects, as well as a deeper understanding of synchronization, equalization, and signal recovery techniques. Finally, an experimental setup was designed based on Software Defined Radio devices and a channel emulator, conceived as a modular and reconfigurable platform to validate in the laboratory the performance of W-band links.