Pumpkin, Inc.
  • Home
  • Media
    • News
    • Blog
  • Products / Store
  • Salvo RTOS
  • Supporting Documents
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Product
  • anything

From deep in (Pumpkin) space ...

Pumpkin-built ISARA Dual-Purpose Reflectarray Antenna is the First Ever in Space!

1/21/2018

 
From the joint JPL-Pumpkin ISARA project that began in 2012, today the 3U ISARA spacecraft is on-orbit and undergoing initial trials. ISARA is equipped with a deployable 24-cell Pumpkin PMDSAS solar array that also has a Ka-band reflectarray antenna on its backside. The conductive pattern on the reflectarray side is analogous to a Fresnel lens for Ka-band wavelengths, implemented as discrete patches arranged in a particular pattern. Pumpkin worked with Dr. Richard Hodges and his group at JPL to develop a process whereby the JPL-designed reflectarray could be incorporated into Pumpkin's PMDSAS deployable solar panel technology and manufacturing, to yield flat and extremely stiff dual-purpose panels. Naturally, Pumpkin's space-grade hinges were used on these panels. 
In the images above, you can see the backside of the deployed Pumpkin 3-panel solar array + reflectarray. The metallic-color pieces between the panels are the Pumpkin hinges that enable the reflectarray to wrap around the ISARA structure when stowed. Solar power (from the solar cells on the opposite sides of these panels, not visible in these images) is routed from the central panel into the 3U bus at the hinge interface located at the base of the center panel. The smaller 4x4 array of patches on the opposite side of these fisheye-view images captured on orbit is the feed antenna for the reflectarray.

Dr. Hodges reported on January 16 that the Pumpkin solar array is functioning properly. The Aerospace Corporation is currently doing checkout of the various spacecraft bus components (e.g., Star Tracker and ACS). We wish them luck with this ground-breaking effort!

On-orbit images courtesy of JPL / NASA. More information at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/isara.php.

    Archives

    August 2024
    March 2024
    April 2023
    January 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Home

​About Us

Store

Salvo RTOS

Contact

Copyright © 2015-2025
  • Home
  • Media
    • News
    • Blog
  • Products / Store
  • Salvo RTOS
  • Supporting Documents
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Product
  • anything