Crystal Oscillators for Satellite Applications

Martin B. Bloch

Abstract:	Quartz crystals have achieved stabilities of 1 x 10-"/day and have been and still are the key building block for use in satellite communication and timing systems. Even with introduction of rubidium, cesium and hydrogen standards for satellites, the crystal oscillator is still an important element in achieving the stability and low noise requirement. The crystal oscillator consumes little power (1 watt), is lightweight (less than a lb.) and achieves a MTBF of better than two million hours. The above 4 characteristics make it ideally suitable for satellite applications and it has had an excel lent track record in space. This paper summarizes quartz clocks presently employed in satellite systems with stabilities of 1 x 10^-9/day to 5 x 10^-12/day and will compare their performance on earth with what has been achieved in orbital environments with respect to life, stability, power consumption, temperature stability and radiation effects.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 17th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 3 - 5, 1985 DuPont Plaza Hotel Washington, DC
Pages:	71 - 72
Cite this article:	Bloch, Martin B., "Crystal Oscillators for Satellite Applications," Proceedings of the 17th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Washington, DC, December 1985, pp. 71-72.
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