Next Big Future September 22, 2020 The inflatable antenna system enables big data from cubesats and small low-cost spacecraft. The 3-dimensional phased array antenna technology can provide high data rate communication at virtually any frequency at a fraction of the size and cost of any existing solution. They have a 5G communication antenna which is superior for communication in a city. The 5G antenna can replace 3-4 traditional antennas. The antenna has a fully electronic beam steering, 360-degree coverage eliminates moving parts to dramatically reduce cost and complexity. It is small, lightweight, reliable, provides low-cost access to large volumes of […]
Tag Archives: CubeSats
Laser-pointing system could help tiny satellites transmit data to Earth
Phys.org December 14, 2018 CubeSats struggle to efficiently transmit large amounts of data down to Earth due to power and size constraints. To fine-point its downlink beam, researchers at MIT utilize an uplink beacon signal captured by an on-board detector and tracked by an off-the-shelf MEMS fast steering mirror. As these miniature actuators lack feedback sensors, the system design is augmented with an optical calibration signal to provide the mirror’s pointing feedback. They developed calibration algorithms utilizing the feedback signal to achieve higher fidelity beam pointing control. Experimental results show that beacon tracking errors of only 16 μrad root-mean-square are feasible […]