ARISE: a challenging 25-m space antenna design

Abstract

The ARISE (Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth) program, part of future scientific and communications missions, are designed to test the concept of using very large reflector antennas in space. The antenna dimensions are targeted from 10 m to 25 m and beyond. Frequencies covering L-band through W-band are being considered. Among these challenging missions, the ARISE program is projected to utilize a 25 m dual offset Gregorian optics operating from 8 GHz to 86 GHz. The objective of this mission is to create a space-based VLBI system (integrated with ground based antennas) for high resolution mapping of the black holes.