To design innovative stowing and deployment mechanisms enabling Ka band extra large reflectarray antennas for small Earth Observation satellites.

Small satellites have seen a significant growth over the past decade and have emerged as a viable complement to traditional large satellite solutions for many applications. This growth is mainly justified by their short development time and low cost. Initially, work on CubeSats was mostly conducted by universities, but now other sectors, such as commercial business and government agencies are also interested in CubeSats.As most CubeSats are launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where the active communication window to transmit data to ground may be only a few minutes long; high speed communications are required. In addition, recent CubeSats missions have been proposed targeting Lunar, asteroid and planetary destinations (deep-space missions). In both cases, a significant antenna gain is needed also considering the limited power available on-board the CubeSats. Several antenna solutions exist, but deployable reflectarrays are ideal candidates to realise large deployable aperture antennas on CubeSats.In order to limit the risks inherent to the development of complex deployable satellites, this activity draws on experience and lessons learned in the GSTP activity GT17-110EF ?Development of a flight representative reflectarray for cubesat applications? that focus on interplanetary missions operating in X-band.The activity aims to design Ka band deployable reflectarray antennas with an aperture of the order one squared meter. The main criticalities to be faced in the activity are associated to mechanical and thermal aspects.The following tasks are encompassed:- Review of existing technologies and associated limitations;- Design of mechanisms;- Thermal and mechanical analysis;- Manufacturing and characterization of the main parameters;- Assessment of RF performances;- Way forward and qualification roadmap.