S3C’s SDR on Rashid Lunar Rover

In 2022, the UAE plans to have an innovative micro-rover on a previously unexplored part of the moon. As unveiled at the last IAC (International Astronautical Congress), S3C is a proud partner of the Emirates Lunar Mission and creators of the ground-breaking communications system (COM-S) that will directly connect the little rover to Earth, 400,000km away.

Between the 25th and 29th of October 2021, the global space community turned its attention to the United Arab Emirates, the first Arab country to host the IAC since its establishment in 1950. S3C was present as a partner of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the IAC host organisation for 2021. The centre was established by the Dubai Government to drive space technology in support of a knowledge-based economy in Dubai and the UAE.

The jewel of the S3C exhibit was, of course, the lunar rover’s S3C designed and built COM-S unit. The COM-S is a software defined radio that weighs less than 180g - including the antenna. Power consumption in receiver mode is on average less than 500mW and 4W in transmit mode. S3C’s proprietary communication protocols allows for fast link-acquisition and robust turbo-codes to utilise burst-transmissions.

S3C’s SDR framework and bespoke hardware platform radically reduce power consumption beyond what is possible with standard CCSDS protocol-based solutions. This means the COM-S unit could be miniaturised, yet maintain the exceptional performance required for a lunar mission.

The Rashid Lunar Rover is tiny. It could fit in a 700 x 470 x 505mm box with its arm and gimbal fully deployed. Even more impressively, it weighs less than 10kg. That means we had no extra room, power, or weight to play with when designing the communications unit.

Rashid Lunar Rover

S3C COM-S Unit

The COM-S unit was made possible by S3C’s in-house SDR framework; a purpose-built development environment and signal processing library for creating low-powered embedded systems. This SDR framework is highly customisable and dramatically shortens the development time for new SDR hardware. 

S3C is the current industry leader for VDES, the incoming advanced maritime communication technology known as the next generation of AIS, already enabling VDES capable satellite payloads. S3C are advanced communications product developers and technology partners to select clients and governments. Our humanitarian and ecologically motivated projects have active case studies in over five countries.

S3C products on display at the 2021 International Astronautical Conference. (No Sound)