THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH THRUST TO DEVELOP HIGH PERFORMANCE YET COMPACT KABAND SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO APPLICABLE FOR FORMATION FLYING SMALL SATELLITES. COMPARING WITH THE USE A SINGLE LARGE SATELLITE A FORMATION OF COOPERATING SMALL SATELLITES CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE SYSTEM CAPACITY THROUGHPUT SPATIAL COVERAGE AND SENSING RESOLUTION WHILE REDUCE MISSION COST. FOR SMALL SATELLITE FORMATION FLYING A KEY FUNCTIONAL UNIT IS THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. CURRENTLY MOST DEPLOYED SPACE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OPERATE IN S OR X FREQUENCY BAND WHICH PRESENT LIMITATIONS TO BANDWIDTHS AND DATA RATES AS INSTRUMENT RATES INCREASE FOR NEW SCIENCE MISSIONS. FOR INSTANCE NEW EARTH OBSERVING MISSIONS PRODUCE LARGE DATA SETS AND DEMAND HIGH TRANSMISSION DATA RATES BEYOND THE PROCESSING CAPABILITY OF THESE BANDS. MOREOVER DUE TO THEIR SIGNALS RELATIVELY LONG WAVELENGTHS THE ACHIEVABLE RANGING RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY ARE COARSE AND CAN HARDLY MEET FORMATION FLYING SATELLITES SUB MM RANGING RESOLUTION REQUIREMENT. TO OVERCOME THESE LIMITATIONS THE NASA TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP IDENTIFIES KABAND FOR THE NEXT GENERATION SPACE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. MOREOVER SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO IS CONSIDERED AS A STRATEGIC TECHNIQUE TO LEVERAGE SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY TO SERVE VARYING SPACE RESEARCH MISSIONS. THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IS SHOWING GROWING INTEREST IN KABAND SDR DESIGN HOWEVER RESEARCH IN THIS AREA IS STILL AT THE EARLY STAGE. IN 2012 HARRIS CO. PRESENTED THE FIRST KABAND SDR NEVERTHELESS THE SYSTEM IS BULKY AND POWER HUNGRY WHICH PREVENTS ITS USE FOR SMALL SATELLITES.