Microwaves & RF: MEMS RF Switches Help Improve RF Comms and Optimize SWaP for Satellite Platforms

Microwaves & RF — October 17, 2025

Featuring Chris Keimel, Menlo Micro CTO

Enabling next-gen wide-bandwidth, mission-critical satellite communications while meeting the SWaP constraints of spacecraft and tactical radios is a significant challenge for the space industry. Unlocking this puzzle may simply lie with the switch.

What you'll learn:

• The drawbacks of EMRs and solid-state switches for mission-critical applications.
• How the performance and features of a new type of ohmic MEMS switch compares with traditional electromechanical relays and solid-state switches.
• The potential to use the size, weight, and power advantages of MEMS switches to enable the next generation of satellite communications.
• Overall impact of MEMS switches on system design.

In satellite design, where each gram of mass, milliwatt of energy consumption, and cubic centimeter of occupied volume are scrutinized, the size, weight, and power (SWaP) implications of the many embedded switches have long been an important consideration for system designers.

On satellites, switches fulfill the role of routing signals in the payload and control the operation of attenuators and phase shifters that feed phased-array antennas to manage the beamforming of signals. The physical space occupied by switches impacts the dimensions of the subsystem, and their aggregated mass has launch and operational considerations.

Moreover, the switches’ electric power consumption places demand on the solar arrays, plus the generated heat must be appropriately managed and dissipated.

The Bottleneck in Mission-Critical Communications

Historically, system engineers have had to make difficult switch-selection decisions: Trading off specifications and radiation sensitivity between electromechanical relays (EMRs) and solid-state switches, then taking the compromises associated with those choices.

Read the full article here.