Micron accurate deployable antenna and sensor technology for new-millennium-era spacecraft

This paper summarizes recent results in a cooperative research program between the University of Colorado and NASA Langley Research Center in the deployment of precise antennas and reflectors from compact spacecraft. Advances in concepts, joints, materials, ground-test methodology, and micro-structural mechanics are presented which demonstrate the potential for passively positioning deployed components to within a few microns of their desired configuration. This technology promises to advance the state-of-the-art in deployment technology by several orders of magnitude in the next five to ten years. This means it will be possible to deploy reflectors with passive diffraction limited performance up to long wave infrared frequencies with a mass of perhaps five kilograms per square meter. Results of a ground test validation program and a planned flight validation experiment are presented to illustrate the key technical results of this research.