Compact components for a new generation of antennas

Following an ESA Discovery call for innovative ideas to use promising ESA patents for commercial purposes, EOSOL Group have been given funding to include a novel compact 'mode extractor' in two of their ground station antenna product lines. We use antennas to communicate with distant satellites using electromagnetic waves. To optimise the communications link, the antenna needs to be pointed directly towards the satellite. A mode extractor improves the accuracy of this pointing.

ESA antenna engineer Nelson Fonseca describes this latest research: "This activity is supporting the commercialisation of an ESA invention that was developed about 10 years ago in anticipation of the needs of future very high throughput satellite systems. Originally developed for the space segment, the concept is being adapted here for ground stations."

"EOSOL Group has identified a number of product developments, with respective requirements, that could benefit from a compact mode extractor. As part of the activity they will also assess additive manufacturing (3D printing) techniques, as these could be beneficial to reduce the mass and cost of the device."

Gonzalo Crespo Lopez from EOSOL Group adds: "We are trying to reduce the size of the mode extractor by an order of magnitude and apply additive manufacturing to the device where it has never been used before. This will allow the integration of the device in a more compact and simpler way in the new generation of ground antennas (where everything becomes smaller) and also reduce manufacturing times and production costs."

"OSIP is an ideal tool created by ESA to allow companies and organisations to research new concepts and bring them to market. For us, research is very important, but it is even more important that this research has an application and that we manage to take it quickly to real solutions that are accepted and demanded by the market."