A STUDY OF RADIO FREQUENCY BLACKOUT FOR SPACE PROBE DURING ATMOSPHERIC REENTRY PHASE

Abstract

During the re-entry flight, the radio signal will be interrupted, which is commonly referred to as the communications blackout. Once the plasma sheath forms in the stagnation region of a small space probe, the probe losses more than 70 percent of its downlink data. This shows that the attenuation of the radio signal is very high during the re-entry. When the probe enters the Earth’s atmosphere, the high velocity, high surface temperature and high plasma frequency cause a shock wave layer, which is the main cause of radio blackout. For other reason, the completely reflection of the electromagnetic wave at all communication lines. This study describes the theoretical and numerical study of radio communication during reentry. The paper defines an approach to end radio signal blackout occurring in the wake region and how to exactly solve the radio blackout problem using new methods as injection of coolants, the aerodynamic shaping reducing the concentration of electrons, using transceiver with high operating frequency or interaction of Static Magnetic Field (SMF). Data from OREX probe are used to prove the solution to the Radio Frequency (RF) blackout problem. The significance of the used SMF method is established by computing the reduction in plasma attenuation.