NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program is responsible for providing space communication channels in low Earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit, and deep space for a variety of space missions. The SCaN Link Tool is a standalone, executable, and personal computer (PC)-based software operated via a user interface, which provides NASA civil servants and contractors, as well as the public by way of the tool’s inclusion in the NASA Software Catalog, with in-depth satellite communications link analysis capability. Version 4 of the tool was built using PythonTM (Python Software Foundation) with the help of libraries such as NumPy and SciPy for numerical calculations, Matplotlib for graphical visualizations, and PyQt5 for the graphical user interface. It utilizes radiofrequency (RF) and optical communications link analysis calculations to give users the ability to input known link parameters and calculate select link performance outputs. With the development of the next-generation architecture for space satellite communications in the coming decade, NASA will benefit by having more in-depth communications link analysis tools at its disposal. The tool’s update from version 4 to version 5 aims to provide higher output value accuracy, the ability to solve for a more diverse set of output variables, as well as analog and digital repeater capabilities. Options included in the tool’s functionality, such as the ability to save configuration parameter values, graphs, and results, as well as the provision of default parameter values, increase the tool’s versatility. Users will have access to in-depth, accurate communications link analysis as more advanced satellite constellations are designed and deployed by NASA and the growing commercial aerospace community.
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