TWTA versus SSPA: A comparison update of the Boeing satellite fleet on-orbit reliability

This paper describes the Boeing company Satellite fleet downlink amplifiers; (TWTA and SSPA) reliability FIT rate evolution over time. In addition, this paper attempts to provide insight into the age and distribution of the failures that do occur. For TWTAs an attempt is made to better understand the source of the TWTA failure breaking it out into TWT, EPC or unknown. An higher level look at distinguishing factors between SSPAs and TWTAs is addressed.