VALENCIA, 10 Aug. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Valencian company COMET Ingeniería participates in a new project of the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a deployable antenna for VHF frequencies, capable of probing the Earth’s subsoil from space and locating groundwater.
The ‘Very Wideband VHF Deployable Antenna and RF matching network’ (VDEA) project relies on multidisciplinary and international teamwork. In this case, it is led by the multinational EOSOL, and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), Aeroxess (Germany) and Open Cosmos (United Kingdom) also participate; and is financed by the European Space Agency (ESA), as detailed by the Valencian company in a statement.
The business consortium will be in charge of designing, manufacturing and commissioning a ‘log-periodic’ antenna with dual polarization, capable of withstanding power peaks of up to 1KW, and an RF adaptation network that can handle high power peaks. Once completed, the developed antenna will be integrated into future Earth observation radar instruments.
The rapid evolution of space technology and, specifically, of deployable antennas, have made it possible today to set goals that were inconceivable until not long ago, COMET highlighted. This is the case of the VDEA.
With the development of this deployable antenna at VHF frequencies, it is sought to be capable of probing the earth’s subsoil, specifically in polar and arid regions, and with a capacity far superior to that of any current instrument.
In this way, it will be possible to map the basal topography and thickness of the ice, the internal structure of the ice sheet, detect the subglacial hydrological system and determine the melting/freezing regime at the base of the ice shelves, as well as map the aquifers of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, among many other applications.
The development and implementation project is scheduled to last 18 months and will conclude with the creation of a working prototype that will serve as the basis for future Earth observation radiometers at VHF frequencies.
This project, which has just started, has five different areas of work: bibliographic study and review of requirements; offset analysis and preliminary design of the antenna; detailed antenna design; manufacturing, assembly and testing of the first prototype; and conclusions, evaluation and recommendations for improvement.
Currently, the team to create the VDEA antenna is simultaneously working on other deployable antenna projects for Earth observation and communications. In this sense, COMET Engineering is responsible for their mechanical development.
