2021-RD-William-Moulder

Conference Video|Duration: 31:56
November 18, 2021
  • Video details
    Micro- and nanosatellites (mass < 100 kg) have drastically reduced cost, risk and development time associated with space access. This has recently enabled many missions and use cases lead by academia and private industry. These platforms have many applications exploiting the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, including scientific data collection, imaging radar, weather sensing, spectral monitoring and communications. While miniaturization of electronics subsystems will continue to enable increased capabilities with small satellites, many RF applications demand highly directive, hence, large antennas. Thus, deployable antennas are critical to such systems, as they enable large antennas to be fielded on small platforms. This presentation will describe several research efforts at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to realize deployable antennas for micro- and nanosatellites. The presented work will include an inflatable reflector antenna, multiple examples of ultra-lightweight phased arrays, and a low-power consumption scanning reflectarray.
  • Video details
    Micro- and nanosatellites (mass < 100 kg) have drastically reduced cost, risk and development time associated with space access. This has recently enabled many missions and use cases lead by academia and private industry. These platforms have many applications exploiting the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, including scientific data collection, imaging radar, weather sensing, spectral monitoring and communications. While miniaturization of electronics subsystems will continue to enable increased capabilities with small satellites, many RF applications demand highly directive, hence, large antennas. Thus, deployable antennas are critical to such systems, as they enable large antennas to be fielded on small platforms. This presentation will describe several research efforts at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to realize deployable antennas for micro- and nanosatellites. The presented work will include an inflatable reflector antenna, multiple examples of ultra-lightweight phased arrays, and a low-power consumption scanning reflectarray.