SpaceLink

A Python library for radio frequency calculations, including antenna modeling, RF conversions, and noise calculations.

Created and maintained by Cascade Space.

Published documentation for the latest released version can be found here: https://cascade-space-co.github.io/spacelink/

Features

• Antenna Modeling: Calculate antenna gain, beamwidth, and polarization effects
• RF System Analysis: Model complete RF chains with cascaded elements
• Link Budget Calculations: Comprehensive analysis of radio communication links
• Noise Calculations: System noise temperature and related parameters
• Space Communications: Built-in support for satellite link analysis
• Unit-Aware Calculations: Integrated unit handling for RF parameters

Installation

Quick Install

For users who want to import a released version of the package:

pip install spacelink

Development Setup

Aside from modifying the source code you may want to install from source in order to:

• Run the provided Jupyter notebooks
• Generate the documentation locally for a specific version

Prerequisites

1. Python 3.11 or higher
2. Poetry package manager (Install Poetry)

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cascade-space-co/spacelink.git
   cd spacelink
   

2. Install it to a Poetry virtual environment using one of these options:

   • Production mode without developer tools:

     poetry install
     

   • With developer tools:

     poetry install --with dev
     

   • With Jupyter notebook dependencies:

     poetry install --with demo
     

   • With developer tools and Jupyter notebook dependencies:

     poetry install --with dev,demo
     

Documentation

The documentation includes API references and technical guides.

To build the documentation locally:

poetry run sphinx-build -b html docs/source docs/build/html

Then open docs/build/html/index.html in your browser.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to the SpaceLink project! See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed instructions and guidelines.

License

MIT License