A New Design of the 3D Deployable Space Antenna Structure

Abstract

Communication and energy supply are critical in different sophisticated space missions in the aerospace industry. However, rockets have limited launch space and cannot carry such a massive support system. A space antenna deployable structure based on the scissor element and ring truss structure is proposed to overcome this challenge. This research studies the basic unit and its connection structure separately to investigate the mobility of the deployable structure. The connection structure and the basic units have one degree of freedom. Subsequently, a deployable ring truss system for satellite antennas is demonstrated. The kinematic models of the basic units and common deployment mechanisms have been constructed to demonstrate the mechanism deployment performance. The designed deployable structure can further increase the mechanism’s deployment area by splicing multiple basic ring deployable structures. This newly designed space antenna deployable structure has greater flexibility and can effectively increase the deployment area of the ring truss.