Recent Developments on Reflectarray Antennas for NanoSats at Anywaves

Presented at the 43rd ESA Antenna Workshop, Reflectarray Antenna Developments at Anywaves reports recent R&D and industrialization activities led by Anywaves to develop a high-gain reflectarray antenna product for CubeSat and NanoSat missions. Co-authored by Nelson J. G. Fonseca, Chief Innovation Officer at Anywaves, the paper describes a generic, patent-pending reflectarray architecture scalable from X-band to Ka-band and beyond, designed to combine compact stowage, mechanical robustness, and stable RF performance in low Earth orbit.

The contribution details the design of a three-panel deployable reflectarray, its cavity-backed unit cell implementation, and the experimental validation of a Ka-band demonstrator achieving more than 40 dBi directivity over a 31.8–34.7 GHz bandwidth. The paper also reports the first commercial in-orbit deployment of a reflectarray antenna, confirming the maturity of the technology and its suitability for future high-data-rate small satellite missions.

Reference:
Proc. 43rd ESA Antenna Workshop – Antenna Technologies Bridging Legacy and New Space, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, Oct. 2025.