Changes

If the [[beam divergence]] of a transmitter is small, i.e. it forms a tighter cone, then more power actually reaches the receiver. However, low divergence means that the beam must be very well aligned for the spot to actually coincide with the receiver aperture. By contrast, if the transmit beam is wider, the spot becomes larger and it is easier to hit the receiver, but less power will be transmitted into the receiver system. This tradeoff is an ongoing high-level design question for SSI's [[OpComms]] team.

If the [[beam divergence]] of a transmitter is small, i.e. it forms a tighter cone, then more power actually reaches the receiver. However, low divergence means that the beam must be very well aligned for the spot to actually coincide with the receiver aperture. By contrast, if the transmit beam is wider, the spot becomes larger and it is easier to hit the receiver, but less power will be transmitted into the receiver system. This tradeoff is an ongoing high-level design question for SSI's [[OpComms]] team.

It is likely not technically feasible to achieve this level of pointing precision in a CubeSat in the near future, however there is a lot of promising work in this field. One CubeSat components manufacturer, for example, is offering a CubeSat bus that claims +/- 0.002 degree (34.9 microradian) pointing accuracy with 1 arc second stability [http://bluecanyontech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/XB1-Data-Sheet_1.0.pdf].

It is likely not technically feasible to achieve this level of pointing precision in a CubeSat in the near future, however there is a lot of promising work in this field. One CubeSat components manufacturer, for example, is offering a CubeSat bus that claims +/- 0.002 degree (34.9 microradian) pointing accuracy with 1 arc second stability [http://bluecanyontech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/XB1-Data-Sheet_1.0.pdf].