Lightweight Composite Reflectarray that can be Flattened, Folded, and Coiled for Compact Stowage

Herein is presented a design for a lightweight 5 m x 1 m radio-frequency (RF) reflector that can be flattened, folded, and coiled for compact stowage on board an ESPA-class spacecraft. The reflector is a reflectarray that operates at 3.2 GHz. Compared to state-of-the-art technologies for RF reflectors, the presented design has advantages in terms of areal density, stiffness, deployed stability, and scalability. Thermal and structural analysis is presented to demonstrate deployed stiffness and thermoelastic stability of the proposed design. Thermal analysis is used to predict in-space deployed temperatures in an operational condition, and structural finite element analysis is used to predict deployed vibration modes and frequencies, and the thermoelastic deformation of the deployed reflector. Also presented are the fabrication, assembly, and testing of two one-third-scale-length full-scale-width 1.7 m x 1 m test articles. These test articles are used to experimentally demonstrate RF functioning, stowage, deployment, and RF performance after deployment.