Reflectarray Antenna
Typical design targets — each antenna is designed to your specifications
High-gain payload antenna. Built for Ku and Ka band.
Up to 40 dBi from foldable flat panels — parabolic performance, compact stowage
The Reflectarray Antenna replicates the performance of a parabolic reflector using a series of flat, foldable panels engineered to reflect and phase-control RF waves. Once deployed in orbit, the aperture delivers up to 40 dBi of realised gain from X-band to Ka-band, within a fractional bandwidth of up to 15%. The technology achieves this performance level in a form factor that stows to just 360 × 210 × 30 mm for launch — making it accessible to platforms where volume is constrained but high-gain payload performance is non-negotiable.
Passive deployment — high mechanical reliability, no motor required
The antenna unfolds through a robust passive deployment mechanism: no motor, no electrical actuation, no software dependency. Precision-guided folding systems and locking interfaces between the central and lateral panel sections ensure that the aperture deploys to its correct geometry every time, with structural rigidity maintained throughout the mission lifetime. Passive thermal control is integrated into the design, ensuring the panel geometry remains stable across the extreme thermal gradients of orbital operations.
Dual-circular polarization — simultaneous LHCP and RHCP from a single aperture
The Reflectarray Antenna supports dual-circular polarization — it transmits or receives Left Hand and Right Hand Circular Polarization simultaneously from the same aperture. This dual-pol capability is a significant system architecture advantage: it doubles the data throughput for a given aperture size in communications applications, enables polarimetric SAR in radar applications, and provides inherent link redundancy without requiring a second antenna. The fractional bandwidth of up to 15% further extends the frequency agility available to mission designers.
The world’s first commercial reflectarray on a small satellite. In orbit.
The Anywaves Reflectarray Antenna is a custom-designed, flight-proven high-gain payload antenna for small satellites. Originally developed under a CNES programme and now in orbit as the world’s first commercial reflectarray antenna on a small satellite, it delivers up to 40 dBi of gain from X-band to Ka-band using foldable flat panels that replicate the performance of a parabolic reflector. It is designed for missions where high gain, broadband performance, compact stowage and deployment reliability must be achieved simultaneously.
Its passive deployment mechanism — no motor, no electrical actuation — and locking interfaces ensure high mechanical reliability. Dual-circular polarization (simultaneous LHCP and RHCP) supports both communications and SAR payloads. Fractional bandwidth up to 15%. Stowed to 360 × 210 × 30 mm. Optional LNB. Acceptance tests included. All parameters defined jointly with the customer. ITAR Free.
Requirement Definition
At Anywaves, we specialise in delivering custom-made antennas tailored to meet your unique requirements. Our expertise allows us to understand your specific needs and translate them into antenna specifications. We work closely with you to identify key parameters such as frequency bands, gain, beamwidth, mechanical constraints, and environmental considerations. Our team of experienced engineers collaborates with you throughout the process, ensuring that the antenna design aligns precisely with your application’s demands.
Project Management
Our experienced space project managers are skilled in coordinating all aspects of your custom-made antenna project, from initial concept to final delivery. With meticulous planning, effective communication, and diligent resource allocation, we ensure that your project stays on track through key milestones (PDR, CDR, TRR, TRB…). Our project management expertise enables us to navigate complex challenges, mitigate risks, and provide you with regular updates on project progress.
Technical Expertise
Our team of skilled engineers has extensive experience in antenna design and development, as well as in the space and defence industries. We leverage the latest tools and technologies to develop innovative antenna solutions that meet even the most complex challenges. With our technical expertise, we optimise key parameters such as gain, bandwidth, radiation pattern, and impedance matching to deliver antennas that excel in your specific application, following an extensive testing process to mitigate risks throughout the project.
Extensive Documentation
In addition to our standard EIDP package, we deliver throughout the project all the design justification you may need: RF, mechanical, thermal and radiation analyses; test plans; test reports. We make sure to deliver documentation that adds value to your project and guarantees that your antenna is compliant with your requirements.
High gain. Compact stowage. Flight proven.
Tell us about your payload requirements and platform constraints. Our RF engineers will design a reflectarray antenna to match your mission — backed by the world’s first commercial reflectarray heritage in orbit.
Questions & Answers
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What is a reflectarray antenna and how does it work?
A reflectarray antenna replicates the performance of a parabolic dish reflector using a flat surface of phase-shifting elements. A feed horn illuminates the flat panel at close range; each element on the panel is designed to reflect the incoming wave with a precise phase offset, so that the reflected wavefronts combine constructively in the desired beam direction. The result is a high-gain, highly directive beam equivalent to that of a parabolic reflector, but produced from a flat surface that can be folded for launch and deployed in orbit. This makes it possible to achieve very high gains (up to 40 dBi in Anywaves’ design) in a volume-constrained small satellite, something that is not achievable with a parabolic dish within the same launch envelope.
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What applications is the Reflectarray Antenna designed for?
The Anywaves Reflectarray Antenna is designed for satellite payload applications that require very high gain (up to 40 dBi) combined with compact stowage. Primary applications include high-data-rate communications downlinks (Earth-to-space or inter-satellite), where gain directly determines achievable throughput; Earth observation payloads requiring a narrow, high-gain beam for precise ground coverage; and dual-use missions where the antenna’s dual-circular polarization capability supports both communications and polarimetric radar functions. It is a custom product: frequency band, gain, aperture size and deployment mechanism are all tailored to each mission.
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How does the passive deployment mechanism work?
The reflectarray panels are folded against the satellite body for launch, held in place by a release mechanism. On command in orbit, the release is triggered and the panels unfold through stored mechanical energy (springs or similar passive elements) — no motor, no electrical actuator, no software-driven sequence. Precision-guided folding systems and locking interfaces between the central and lateral sections ensure that the deployed geometry is deterministic and repeatable. Once locked in the deployed position, the structure is rigid and thermally stable. This passive approach maximises mechanical reliability by eliminating actuator failure modes, which is critical for a one-shot deployment.
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What does dual-circular polarization mean and why does it matter?
Dual-circular polarization means the antenna simultaneously supports Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) and Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) from the same aperture, typically through two separate RF ports. In a communications application, this doubles the spectral efficiency: both polarizations can carry independent data streams, effectively doubling data throughput without increasing the aperture area. In SAR applications, simultaneous dual-circular polarization enables fully polarimetric measurements, which provide richer target characterisation than single-polarization radar. In both cases, the dual-pol capability is delivered by a single antenna, avoiding the mass, volume and integration complexity of a two-antenna solution.
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How does the Reflectarray Antenna compare to the Slotted Waveguide Array Antenna?
Both are custom-designed high-gain flat payload antennas, but they serve different gain regimes and application profiles. The Slotted Waveguide Array achieves gains above 20 dBi with a fractional bandwidth of about 5%, within a fully rigid full-metal structure no thicker than 10 mm — optimised for high power handling (SAR transmit) and ESD-free operation. The Reflectarray achieves gains up to 40 dBi with a fractional bandwidth up to 15%, through foldable panels that stow to 360 × 210 × 30 mm — optimised for maximum gain in a constrained launch volume. The right choice depends on the required gain level, available stowage volume, power level, and whether deployability is a design driver for the mission.
Reflectarray antenna: deployable high-gain payload for small satellites, TRL 9
The Anywaves Reflectarray Antenna is a TRL 9, flight-proven, custom-designed high-gain payload antenna for small satellites — the world’s first commercial reflectarray antenna deployed in orbit on a small satellite. Originally developed under a CNES programme, it delivers up to 40 dBi of realised gain from X-band to Ka-band (scalable toward Q/V bands) within a fractional bandwidth of up to 15%, using foldable flat panels that replicate the performance of a parabolic reflector. Available in dual-circular polarization (simultaneous LHCP and RHCP).
The antenna stows to 360 × 210 × 30 mm for launch and deploys through a passive mechanism — no motor, no electrical actuation — with precision-guided locking interfaces ensuring deterministic geometry and structural rigidity in orbit. Passive thermal control is integrated. Optional LNB. All parameters (frequency, gain, aperture, deployment sequence) are defined jointly with the customer. Acceptance tests included. ITAR Free.
