Millimetre wave front end receivers for the MWS and MWI instruments onboard MetOp-SG satellites

RAL Space and its project partner PRG are tasked with providing space-qualified heterodyne receiver front-ends operating between 165.5 GHz and 325 GHz for the Microwave Sounder (MWS), the Microwave Imager (MWI) and the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) of the MetOp Second Generation (MetOp-SG) series of satellites. The preliminary design of the receiver front-ends is now complete. Extensive tests on performance of the individual components, as well as of the assembled breadboard versions of the receiver front-ends, have been performed. The results and conclusions derived from these tests will be presented.