ISARA
ISARA
ISARA
ISARA
ISARA
Satellite ISARA (Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna for High Bandwidth CubeSat, CUMULOS)
Form factor CubeSat
Units or mass 3U
Status Reentry 2022-02-23. Was operational (Public news on 2019-05-23)
Launched 2017-11-12
NORAD ID 43050
Deployer NRCSD-E (External NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer)
Launcher Antares
Deployment Deployed from Cygnus on 2017-12-07
Organisation Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Institution Space agency
Entity type Government (Civil / Military)
Country US
Launch brokerer Nanoracks
Partners Pumpkin
Oneliner

Demonstrate deployable reflectarray and Ka-band communications.

Description

Demonstrate a high bandwidth Ka-band CubeSat communications capability that is ready for immediate infusion into commercial, government and military systems. For a modest increase in mass, volume and cost, this technology will increase downlink data rates from a baseline of 9.6 kbps for existing UHF systems to over 100 Mbps - a 105 fold increase in data capacity.

The key to this technical advance is a high gain antenna (HGA) that will be integrated into a commercially available 3U CubeSat solar array with minimal modification of the existing solar panel design. ISARA will fly a nominal 5 month SFV mission that demonstrates the 100 Mbps data rate and elevates the antenna technology from TRL 5 to TRL 7

Results
  • First reflectarray antenna flown in space.
  • First high gain antenna integrated with solar panels (low mass delta).
  • First calibrated antenna gain measurement performed from space –33.4 dB peak.
  • First 100 Mbps CubeSat (3U) telecom downlink capability (from LEO).
Sources [1] [2] [3]
Photo sources [1]
Keywords Reflectarray, Ka-band
Space photos ISARAISARAISARAISARA

[1] [2] [3]

Last modified: 2023-12-15

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Created by Erik Kulu

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