SCaN Testbed on Station

The SCaN Testbed is an advanced, integrated communications laboratory facility aboard the International Space Station that uses a new generation of software-defined radio (SDR) technology to allow researchers to develop, test and demonstrate advanced communications, networking and navigation technologies in space.

This SDR technology is based on a new NASA standard – the space telecommunications radio standard (STRS) – that enables radio applications to be changed simply by altering the software. NASA’s SCaN Program has developed the STRS architecture standard for SDR use in space- and ground-based platforms.