Deployable Reflectors for Small Satellites

A key limitation for future Small Satellite communications and radar missions will be available antenna reflector aperture. Two types of reflectors are dominant for satellite RF systems today, rigid, single-piece reflectors and deployable mesh reflectors. Single-piece reflectors are limited to the aperture that fits inside a launch vehicle without packaging the reflective surface. Mesh reflectors have become the workhorse of the deployable reflector market, however these reflectors are expensive because they require complex mechanisms and have substantial labor cost for fabrication. The recurring cost for a 4m mesh reflector of sufficient surface precision for a radar mission is on the order $10M. This historically high cost for deployable reflectors will limit small satellites to missions and performance that can be achieved with the relatively small aperture of a single-piece reflector unless a low-cost deployable reflector can be developed. This paper will discuss a deployable solid surface reflector that can be packaged into small, low-cost launch vehicles, such as the Taurus and Falcon 1e, while also minimizing cost with a simple, low-part-count design. This technology is being developed by Composite Technology Development (CTD) using TEMBO Elastic Memory Composites (EMC). LOW-COST, SOLID-SURFACE DEPLOYABLE REFLECTOR Current communications and radar missions for small satellites are limited by the performance that can be achieved with small, low-cost antenna systems. A wide range of small satellite mission objectives could be met with 2m to 4m diameter deployable reflectors that package into a nominally 1.5 meter diameter fairing. Since no current reflector designs fall into this category and simultaneously meet the $1M-$3M cost goal of small satellite payload budgets, innovative is required. To respond to this need, CTD has developed a high frequency solid-surface deployable reflector that incorporates substantially fewer parts and involves greatly reduced fabrication time than current deployable reflectors. This reflector uses a graphite composite reflective surface which is pleated and closed upward like an umbrella. Performance metrics for the CTD solid-surface reflector versus deployable mesh and onepiece reflectors for a small satellite are given in Figure 1. A 4m-diameter version of this reflector design is shown packaged in a Falcon 1e launch fairing in Figure 1 and deployed in Figure 2. These figures demonstrate the impressive packaging performance of the new design. Table 1: Reflector Performance Metrics