IEEE Radio & Radar Band Designations

Band	Frequency	Wavelength	Typical satellite use
VHF	30 – 300 MHz	1 – 10 m	CubeSat TT&C, APRS, weather sat (137 MHz APT), beacons
UHF	300 MHz – 1 GHz	30 cm – 1 m	CubeSat up/downlink (435–438 MHz amateur), TT&C, IoT
L	1 – 2 GHz	15 – 30 cm	GNSS (GPS/Galileo), Iridium, Inmarsat, mobile sat phones
S	2 – 4 GHz	7.5 – 15 cm	LEO TT&C & downlink, ISS, weather, some payloads (2.0–2.3 GHz)
C	4 – 8 GHz	3.75 – 7.5 cm	GEO comms (rain-robust), VSAT, TV distribution
X	8 – 12 GHz	2.5 – 3.75 cm	EO payload downlink (8–8.4 GHz), military & deep-space, radar
Ku	12 – 18 GHz	1.67 – 2.5 cm	DTH TV, VSAT, broadband (Starlink user 10.7–12.7 GHz)
K	18 – 27 GHz	1.11 – 1.67 cm	High-throughput sat (HTS), inter-satellite links
Ka	27 – 40 GHz	7.5 – 11 mm	HTS broadband, Starlink/OneWeb gateways, high data rate
V	40 – 75 GHz	4 – 7.5 mm	Next-gen HTS, inter-satellite links, feeder links
W	75 – 110 GHz	2.7 – 4 mm	Experimental, ISL, automotive radar (terrestrial)

Band edges follow IEEE Std 521. ITU and waveguide letter bands differ slightly; satellite "uplink/downlink" sub-bands are allocated by ITU Radio Regulations and vary by region and service.

Common Satellite Up/Downlink Pairs

Service	Uplink	Downlink
C-band FSS	5.925 – 6.425 GHz	3.7 – 4.2 GHz
X-band (gov/EO)	7.9 – 8.4 GHz	7.25 – 7.75 GHz
Ku-band FSS	14.0 – 14.5 GHz	10.7 – 12.75 GHz
Ka-band	27.5 – 31.0 GHz	17.7 – 21.2 GHz
Amateur UHF/VHF	435 – 438 MHz	145.8 – 146 MHz

📖 How to use

Find your band letter in the first table for its frequency range, wavelength and typical satellite use.在第一张表里找到你的波段字母,查其频率范围、波长和典型卫星用途。
Use the up/downlink table for the standard FSS / government sub-band pairs.用上/下行表查标准 FSS / 政府频段的收发配对。
Pick a band, then size the link with the calculators (link budget, rain, antenna…) linked below.选定波段后,用下方链接的计算器(链路预算、雨衰、天线…)设计链路。

Choosing a satellite frequency band

Lower bands (VHF/UHF/S) are easy to work with — cheap hardware, wide beams, forgiving pointing — but offer limited bandwidth and are congested, so they suit telemetry and small CubeSats. Higher bands (X/Ku/Ka) provide much more bandwidth for high data-rate payloads and broadband, at the cost of tighter pointing, smaller beams, and greater rain attenuation (especially Ka and above).

C-band sits in a sweet spot for rain-robust GEO links, while Ku and Ka dominate modern broadband constellations. As a rule, go as high in frequency as your rain margin, hardware and pointing accuracy allow to maximise throughput.

Need numbers? Use the link budget calculator, Doppler calculator and antenna gain calculator on this site.

如何选择卫星频段

低频段(VHF/UHF/S)易于使用——硬件便宜、波束宽、指向宽松——但带宽有限且拥挤,适合遥测和小型立方星。高频段(X/Ku/Ka)为高速载荷和宽带提供大得多的带宽,代价是更严的指向、更小的波束和更大的雨衰(尤其 Ka 及以上)。

C 波段在抗雨的 GEO 链路上处于甜点,而 Ku 和 Ka 主导现代宽带星座。一般规律:在你的雨衰余量、硬件和指向精度允许的范围内,尽量用高频段以最大化吞吐。

需要具体数值?用本站的链路预算计算器、多普勒计算器和天线增益计算器。