• Qorvo
    684b39dc77200dc233dbfd90 0625mwrf Qorvo Lms Promo

    K-Band PA Triples Bandwidth, Shrinks Power Draw, Saves Space in LEO Satellites

    June 13, 2025
    A high-efficiency power amp boosts data throughput and makes for more flexible payload architectures in power-constrained LEOs.
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    At IMS 2025, Qorvo (Booth #543) will display its latest K-band power amplifier (PA) designed to improve the performance and integration of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. With next-generation payload demands evolving, the QPA1722 exploits GaN-on-SiC technology to give system designers a more efficient, compact, and scalable option for space-based payloads.

    Qorvo’s QPA1722 PA offers customers 3X the instantaneous bandwidth, a 38% smaller footprint, and 10% higher efficiency than competing devices, it’s claimed. These enhancements enable greater data throughput and more flexible payload architectures, critical for meeting global connectivity goals in size- and power-constrained satellite platforms.

    Some of the banner specs of the QPA1722 include:

    • Frequency range: 17.7 to 20.2 GHz
    • Output power: 10 W (saturated); 6 W (linear)
    • >1-GHz instantaneous bandwidth for high-data-rate applications
    • 36% efficiency for improved power handling and thermal management
    • Compact SMT package for streamlined system integration

    The QPA1722 is sampling now, with volume production planned for the fall of 2025. Qorvo also provides evaluation kits upon request.

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    About the Author

    David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

    I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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    In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.

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