The European Space Agency (ESA) has disclosed on the official website that it plans to launch the autonomous project-3 (PROBA-3) satellite in 2020, using two small-meter satellites to carry out the world ’s first precise formation flight mission An artificial solar eclipse lasting for several hours carries out corona studies. The PROBA-3 satellite is one of the PROBA series satellites, and its primary task is to verify the precise formation flying technology.
The antenna system of the PROBA-3 satellite includes a 3D printed aluminum alloy spiral antenna. The antenna has recently been delivered by the contract manufacturer and has passed the flight approval of the ESA PROBA-3 satellite mission.
Oriented applications
The contract manufacturers of PROBA-3 satellites, SENER Aeroespacial and CATEC, have completed the delivery of telemetry and remote control antennas for ESA PROBA-3 satellites. These antennas include aluminum alloy spiral antennas manufactured by SENER through metal 3D printing technology.
SENER has provided a variety of high and medium gain antenna pointing systems for ESA's main scientific tasks (such as BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter, Euclid and Juice). As part of the development of these systems, SENER designed, verified and integrated key communication components, the most famous of which are antennas and rotary joints integrated inside.
CATEC has cooperated with Airbus to develop titanium alloy support frames for solar panels of telecommunications satellites, and has provided hundreds of accessories, brackets, fairings and other application industries for the aerospace industry.
SENER and CATEC jointly developed the 3D printed aluminum alloy spiral antenna in the PROBA-3 antenna system. The antenna has undergone rigorous verification and qualification tests and has been approved for flight by the ESA PROBA-3 satellite mission.
According to SENER, the 3D printed aluminum alloy spiral antenna maintains RF and thermomechanical performance while achieving functionality.
The manufacturing of satellite antenna components through additive manufacturing-3D printing technology has attracted the attention of aerospace powers around the world, and typical on-orbit applications include 3D printed antenna brackets.
Thales Alenia Space, one of the manufacturers of ESA, has put powder bed selection laser melting 3D printing technology into mass production of telecommunication satellite components. Thales Alenia Space's new development in this regard is the production of components in the all-electric Spacebus Neo platform telecommunications satellite , Spacebus Neo will be equipped with 4 3D printed aluminum reaction wheel brackets, and 16 antenna deployment and pointing mechanism (ADPM) brackets, including 4 aluminum alloy brackets and 12 titanium alloy brackets.
China's scientific research institutions and aerospace manufacturing companies have achieved related research results in the field of additive manufacturing of aluminum alloy satellite antennas. For example, Tsinghua University has conducted research on the additive manufacturing method of aluminum alloy horn antennas for low-orbit positioning loads, including antennas. The grid design of the ridge and bottom, the opening design of the bottom of the antenna cavity, the design of the pillar at the bottom of the inner ridge, the design of the outer ridge of the antenna, and the design of the process parameters of the laser forming and remelting process, and finally through a customized 3D printing The process overcomes the difficulty of aluminum alloy printing. The weight reduction of the antenna by the additive manufacturing process and design method is 2/3, which is of great significance for spaceborne applications.
Whether it is an antenna bracket that has been implemented in orbit, or an aluminum alloy 3D printed antenna, the application of 3D printing technology in these satellite components is closely related to its advantages in achieving the weight reduction of satellite components and the manufacture of complex structures. 3D Science Valley mentioned in the book "3D Printing and Industrial Manufacturing" that with the application of 3D printing technology, satellite lightweighting has arrived. Ways to achieve satellite lightweight through 3D printing technology include manufacturing complex dot matrix lightweight structures that cannot be achieved with traditional technologies, and manufacturing functional integration integrated structures.
In the field of manufacturing lattice light-weight satellite structures, China is at the forefront of the world. The main structure of the "Qianchengyi 01 Star" satellite successfully orbited on August 17, 2019 is currently the world's first whole-star structure based on 3D printed dot matrix materials. The Mechanical System Division of the Ministry is responsible for the development, and the whole star additive manufacturing work is entrusted to Xi'an Platinum Special Additive Technology Co., Ltd. to complete.
The whole star structure of Qiancheng No. 1 is designed using a lightweight three-dimensional lattice structure design method for additive manufacturing. The whole star structure is integratedly prepared by aluminum alloy additive manufacturing technology. The weight of the traditional micro-satellite structure is about 20%, and the frequency of the whole star is generally about 70 Hz. The weight of the whole star structure of Qiancheng No. 1 microsatellite was reduced to less than 15%, the frequency of the whole star was increased to 110 Hz, the number of parts of the whole star structure was reduced to 5, and the design and preparation cycle was shortened to 1 month. The size of the whole star structure exceeds the envelope size of 500mm × 500mm × 500mm, which is also the largest one-piece satellite structure for additive manufacturing.