Ready for lift-off, the novel inflatable antenna system developed by FreeFall Aerospace is validated and ready for space! In partnership with the University of Arizona (UA), FreeFall successfully conducted extensive pre-flight tests, the last step before flying in space. These tests validate operation and performance in a simulated space environment from launch through the entire mission lifetime. Our Inflatable Antenna System has now been integrated for flight on the CatSat spacecraft and will ultimately provide Big Data from Small Spacecraft for a wide variety of missions.

Inflatable Cubesat Antenna

This novel inflatable antenna system developed by Tucson technology company FreeFall Aerospace, in conjunction with the University of Arizona, is a critical component of CatSat, one of eight research satellites to be launched aboard a Firefly launch vehicle now set for no earlier than January 2023. The satellites selected under NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative will perform technology demonstrations, conduct scientific investigations, and provide educational benefits.

 

The FreeFall Aerospace Inflatable Antenna System components include a lightweight Mylar balloon reflector, a deployment and inflation system, and small gas cartridges.

TVAC Test: FreeFall Aerospace Inflatable Antenna System

Science / Technology Question:

How can low power, high data rate communications be achieved with a Small Satellite?

Demonstrate a deployable, high-gain antenna by relaying high-definition images from orbit in near real-time.

CatSat Mission Requirements:

 

The FreeFall Aerospace antenna system utilizes an ultra-lightweight inflatable structure that can be stowed in a very small volume. Once deployed in orbit, it provides an extremely lightweight large aperture high-gain antenna. This approach will dramatically increase the total data return and overall effectiveness of Cubesats and other small satellites. The Principal Investigator of CatSat is Dr. Chris Walker, professor of Astronomy at UA and co-founder of FreeFall Aerospace. The Lead Mechanical & Systems Engineer is FreeFall’s, Aman Chandra.

 

CatSat is a 6U CubeSat built by GOMspace of Denmark that is now being integrated and tested by UA students from various departments, including Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Astronomy, Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. It allows undergraduate and graduate students to get hands-on experience developing and operating a space mission and involves dozens of UA students across campus.

Once in orbit, the FreeFall antenna will deploy using compressed gas to inflate a 0.5-meter diameter Mylar spherical reflector incorporating a proprietary feed system.  Through the inflatable antenna, CatSat will transmit high-definition Earth imagery in real-time to a 6.1 m ground station antenna at Tech Parks Arizona. A second “whip” antenna will also be used to probe how Earth’s ionosphere structure varies at different times of the day. CatSat will orbit Earth approximately 15 times a day during its expected 6-month lifetime.

“Qualifying our inflatable antenna is a crucial step for FreeFall Aerospace, the University of Arizona, and Tucson’s developing space ecosystem. We’re looking forward to making this capability available for commercial, scientific, and government space missions.”

Doug Stetson, CEO of FreeFall Aerospace

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Innovative Antenna Tech: Interview with Doug Stetson, CEO of FreeFall Aerospace

eeDesignIt Podcast | Feb 25, 2021

In this eeDesignIt podcast episode, learn more about the importance of innovative antenna technology and data collection with FreeFall Aerospace CEO, Doug Stetson. Discover how small satellites are changing the way we communicate in space.

eeDesignIt is hosted by Bryan DeLuca and Nicolete Emmino.

Doug Stetson, Co-founder, President, and CEO

Doug Stetson is the CEO of FreeFall Aerospace that is developing innovative antenna technology for satellite communications. Prior to founding FreeFall, Doug spent 30 years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory having lead roles in systems engineering and mission design for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn missions. After leaving JPL in 2008, Doug was the project manager for the LightSail mission that successfully deployed and tested a solar sail in Earth orbit. Doug holds a B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University.
He is the recipient of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and the JPL Award for Excellence in Leadership.

eeDesignIt Podcast

eeDesignIt is the place to go for a wealth of technology and electronics news. We’ll keep you posted on the latest trends, new releases, and technology shaping the world we live in. We’ll also bring you expert interviews from people in the industry who can guide you along your journey.

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Website: https://www.eedesignit.com/

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Gottleib’s Satellite Mobility World | Feb 2021

The quest to develop a low-cost electronically steerable antenna (ESA) has been an elusive one. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars invested by over a dozen companies, a viable, low-cost antenna has yet to emerge. For years, satellite industry engineers have battled the laws of physics, power consumption, heat, and cost in their struggle to build the ultimate antenna. They have employed PCBs impregnated with thousands of chips, and metamaterial designs – all resulting in high-cost solutions. We at Satellite Mobility World are pleased to present a unique and simple solution to the challenge, the FreeFall Aerospace spherical antenna. To find out more about this unusual antenna, we met with CEO, Doug Stetson.

SMW: Can you tell us about the origins of FreeFall Aerospace?

Doug Stetson: Tucson, Arizona based FreeFall Aerospace and its antenna are the products of Space exploration programs. The inventor of our unique technology, Dr.Chris Walker, is a Radio Astronomer. My background is an expansive career at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working on such bold Space exploratory programs as Cassini, Galileo, and Mars exploration. We can find the origins of the FreeFall antenna in derivations of Chris Walker’s signal detector technology. Although developed for Radio Astronomy, we realized that it had enormous potential when applied to satellite communication. So, in late 2016 we incorporated FreeFall to develop and commercialize the technology.

SMW: FreeFall’s antenna incorporates a spherical rather than parabolic reflector – a design rarely seen in the satellite industry. What advantages does it have over conventional parabolic and phased arrays?

Doug Stetson: Most high-gain satellite antennas are parabolic dishes or flat panel phased arrays. Instead, the FreeFall antenna uses a spherical reflecting surface. Unlike a parabolic antenna, which has a very narrow field of view and must be precisely pointed to achieve high-gain, a spherical reflector has the widest possible field of view, dramatically simplifying the acquisition and tracking of a satellite or ground station. A characteristic of a spherical reflector is that it focuses energy on a focal line rather than a focal point as in a parabolic antenna. The Arecibo Radio Telescope is the prime example, and in that case, beam steering was accomplished by physically moving the feed along a semi-circular track. That said complex mechanical process, and if you can avoid it, there’s a tremendous saving in mass, power, and operational complexity for both Space-borne and ground-based antennas. That’s innovation.

Instead of physically moving the line feed, we do it electronically. We have developed a phased array line feed that allows us to provide wide-area coverage at high-gain without requiring any physical motion of the antenna and without moving parts. Our All-Sky antenna offers the beam-steering capability of a flat panel phased array, the high-gain of a parabolic dish, without the complexity, high power, and high cost of an electronically steered flat panel phased array. The antenna has all the advantages of an ESA except for flatness, and it’s simple to build and inexpensive to manufacture.

Read the entire article here beginning on page 23. 

About Satellite Mobility World

Gottlieb International Group’s monthly on-line publication, “Satellite Mobility World” is focused on the use of satellite communications in maritime and aero markets.

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FreeFall Aerospace named Top Satellite Communication Startup

FreeFall Aerospace – Inflatable Antenna

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