Satellite operators ranging from lean startups to powerful defense agencies are experimenting with flexible materials that fold compactly for launch and expand in orbit to create large communications antennas. DARPA's 150-kilogram Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) satellite is a high-profile example. Sent into low Earth orbit in March on a Rocket Lab Electron, R3D2 is equipped with a reflectarray antenna made of a lightweight flexible membrane by MMA Designs. The antenna, packed tightly inside the Northrop Grumman satellite for launch, unfurled in orbit to extend 2.25 meters in diameter.
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