Development status of Large Reflectors at TAS-I

Abstract

Two basic Large Reflector technologies, to meet different mission requirements, are under development in Thales Alenia Space Italy.The Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) technology adopts mesh reflecting surface and can afford very large offset optics (up to 18 m) up to Ku band. The LDR is a patented design which should allow for the development of European Radiometric and Earth Observation missions. A 6 meters LDR demonstrator, fully representative of the design but with dummy mesh, has been manufactured and tested to demonstrate the whole deployment kinematic, deployment accuracy and surface repeatability. These activities were initially carried out within the ESA ‘Innovative, Scalable, Large Deployable Antenna Reflector’ 108005/13/NL/CP contract and continued with internal R&D funding. RF mesh design will be addressed in the study follow on.The Large Unfurlable Reflector Assembly (LURA) technology is focused on large onset optics (5 to 7 m) based on solid unfurlable petals for wide band application from C up to Ka band. The LURA shall serve as a key component for Earth Observation missions. The axially symmetric configuration is suitable to be accommodated directly on the earth facing panel thus allowing to use small platforms and small launchers. The wide band operating frequency (C to Ka) is permitted because of the high surface accuracy, good reflectivity and high thermal stability. A 5 meter LURA demonstrator, fully representative of the real design, has been manufactured to demonstrate kinematics, deployment accuracy and repeatability. The whole reflector assembly is being qualified within a large space contract.