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C h a p t e r 3 MOVING DATA RELIABLY ON AND OFF THE SATELLITE Data movement is a system-level reliability problem, not just a throughput challenge. Today, satellite payloads generate more raw data than downlinks can continuously support, forcing teams to decide which data to process onboard and which to transmit. As a result, satellite architects are pushing intelligence closer to sensors and RF front ends. But onboard processing comes at the cost of increased dependence on precise timing and deterministic data paths. While digital signal processing chains rely on coherent sampling and stable clocks, timing uncertainty can introduce phase noise, jitter, and synchronization errors Rather than acting as simple 'bent-pipe' relays that merely bounce analog signals back to Earth, modern satellites utilize onboard processing to function as highly intelligent, autonomous network switches in space. To successfully route traffic and maintain high-speed inter-satellite links without constant reliance on ground stations, these spacecraft require ultrastable local master clocks. These precision clocks are the only way to synchronize massive digital data streams across various subsystems and ensure flawless handoffs between nodes moving at orbital velocities." that propagate through modulation and data fusion stages. Power integrity also couples directly into data integrity. Transient load changes can affect reference voltages and clocks, which, in turn, can impact data converters and serializers. Designers must therefore manage power and timing together. Similarly, radiation and temperature further complicate data reliability. SEEs can disrupt logic states and clock trees, while thermal variation impacts propagation delay and reference stability. Systems must tolerate transient errors without cascading failure. Gianluca Furano Senior Data Systems Engineer, European Space Agency 18 11 Experts Discuss Designing Space Electronics for the New Space Race