{"dataset":{"slug":"signal-bands","title":"Signal Bands","description":"Communication signal bands — S, X, Ka, UHF, and optical (laser).","version":"1.0.0","lastGenerated":"2026-06-29","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","entityCount":5,"sources":["nasa","jpl"]},"entities":[{"id":"signal_band:ka-band","name":"Ka-band","type":"signal_band","domain":"science","description":"A higher-frequency band that carries much more data than X-band for the same antenna, at the cost of greater sensitivity to rain and pointing. Increasingly used for high-rate science downlink from deep space.","entryPath":"/deep-space-network/band/ka-band"},{"id":"signal_band:optical","name":"Optical (Laser)","type":"signal_band","domain":"science","description":"Laser communication encodes data on an infrared beam instead of radio waves. Its far shorter wavelength packs data into a tighter beam, promising data rates 10–100× higher than radio — the frontier of deep-space communication, demonstrated by DSOC on the Psyche spacecraft.","entryPath":"/deep-space-network/band/optical"},{"id":"signal_band:s-band","name":"S-band","type":"signal_band","domain":"science","description":"A lower-frequency microwave band long used for spacecraft command and low-rate telemetry, and for near-Earth links. Robust and less affected by weather than higher bands, but limited in data rate.","entryPath":"/deep-space-network/band/s-band"},{"id":"signal_band:uhf","name":"UHF","type":"signal_band","domain":"science","description":"An ultra-high-frequency band used for short-range proximity links — for example between a Mars rover and an orbiter that relays the data to Earth — rather than for direct deep-space communication.","entryPath":"/deep-space-network/band/uhf"},{"id":"signal_band:x-band","name":"X-band","type":"signal_band","domain":"science","description":"The workhorse band of deep-space communication and radiometric navigation. Most interplanetary missions send their science data and are tracked on X-band, which balances data rate against antenna size and weather losses.","entryPath":"/deep-space-network/band/x-band"}]}