Communications Research and Development at NASA Glenn Research Center

Over the last several decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC), formerly Lewis Research Center (LeRC) has performed research and technology development of aeronautic- and space-based communications in support of NASA and the nation. In the 1970s, GRC partnered with the Canadian Department of Communications through the Communications Technology Satellite (CTS) Project, in which GRC researchers were responsible for the development of critical technology components, such as the high-power, traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA), thereby pioneering the surge of television channels via satellite. For its efforts, LeRC was awarded an Emmy by the television industry. The decade of the 1980s served as a period for technology development that culminated in the launch of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in 1993. The ACTS demonstration of spot beam antenna technology resulted in an overall increase of efficiency in satellite communications. In the latter part of the 1990s and until today, GRC research engineers have continued to conduct research and technology development in multiple domains. The primary focus of this article is to introduce the reader to the long heritage at GRC in communications research and development through the CTS and ACTS projects and delve into specific technology areas following the ACTS Project to today in support of high-data rate communications. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)AS.19435525.0000316. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.