Johns Hopkins APL’s Frontier-X Wins 2024 R&D 100 Award for Revolutionizing Space Communications

Frontier-X, a breakthrough space communications technology developed at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, was selected as a 2024 R&D 100 Awards winner as one of the top 100 innovations pushing the boundaries of research and development.

Frontier-X, which debuted in 2023, is capable of receiving and transmitting signals in multiple frequencies while using less space and power than a previous APL-developed system called Frontier Radio, which has been a critical component for Laboratory-built space missions that have studied the Sun and revealed the mysteries of Pluto. Operators on Earth can use Frontier-X to send commands to the spacecraft, collect science data and imagery from sensors, and determine the spacecraft’s health, status and location.

“Frontier-X provides best-in-class spacecraft communications capabilities at a reduced resource cost, and will enable pioneering space missions for years to come,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “The Laboratory is proud to deliver breakthrough innovations such as Frontier-X, and we are gratified for this recognition from the R&D community.”

The original Frontier Radios first flew on NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes (designed, built and operated by APL) in 2012, and were designed to be radiation-tolerant, but not at the expense of size, weight and power, offering a performance advantage.

In the decade since, Frontier Radios have been a critical component for many near- and deep-space missions, including Parker Solar Probe, the Emirates Mars Mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), Europa Clipper and the upcoming Dragonfly.

“We are deeply honored to receive this recognition for our work on Frontier-X. This has been a significant team effort over many years from many individuals at APL,” said Chris Haskins, an electrical engineer in APL’s Space Exploration Sector and lead for the development of Frontier Radio. “It has been extremely fulfilling to contribute to missions that have advanced our understanding of space and our place within it. We are excited to see how this technology continues to shape future exploration.”

Frontier-X uses modern technology to process digital signals, synthesize radio frequencies and withstand higher levels of radiation to achieve an industry-leading combination of flexibility, communications and radiometric navigation performance — all while maintaining lower size, weight and power.

In 2023, Frontier-X was commercialized with Rocket Lab to expand the reach of smaller satellites while providing improved connectivity and faster data transmission. This collaboration builds on Frontier-S, which was commercialized with Rocket Lab in 2020 by the same team. Frontier-S has now flown on several commercial missions and is in the production pipeline for numerous commercial and U.S. government missions.

APL has won multiple R&D 100 Awards, including one in 2023 for the Wearable Thin-Film Thermoelectric Cooling device, an ultracompact refrigeration device used to provide cool sensations in phantom limbs, prosthetics and haptics.