A Unique New Antenna Technology for Small (And Large) Satellites

The application of large antennas in spacecraft is often limited by available volume, as well as by the more usual mass limitation. Shroud dimensions usually determine the maximum aperture which can be carried without resorting to complex and potentially unreliable unfurling mechanisms. This applies all the more in a small-satellite environment with the smaller available launch volumes and severe mass limits of this species. FLAPS (Flat Parabolic Surface) is a newly developed technology for RF reflector surfaces which frees the spacecraft designer from the packaging rigidity of the common parabolic dish. It offers the ability to essentially duplicate the capability of a parabolic reflector in a reflector of almost any shape. The surface is shaped electrically rather than physically, in much the same manner as in a phased array, but by a totally passive array of dipoles suspended above a conductive ground plane. The dipoles are sized and spaced for the particular frequency and feed arrangement desired, and can produce a beam of essentially any desired shape. The FLAPS technology is applicable across the microwave and millimeter-wave spectrum. FLAPS reflectors have been built and tested at 2, 6, 16, 36, and 95 GHz. as well as at various other frequencies in this range. The technology lends itself to a variety of fabrication methods, which can be highly automated.