A SBIR Phase II contract was awarded to Roccor, LLC in November, 2019 for $375,000.0 USD from the U.S. Department of Defense and United States Air Force.
Roccor has developed and flight proven (TRL-9) a core structural technology to launch, deploy, and operate many space-satellite antenna configurations that give SmallSats the communication and sensing capabilities of Big Satellites. A key resultant product is a deployable helical antenna system, currently under contract to support a 2020 technology demo of tactical Link-16 communications from space. In this proposal, Roccor plans to design a Gen II variant of this deployable antenna technology that is productized for high volume manufacturing with a focus on improved RF performance tailored to Link-16, deployment reliability and reduction in cost. This hardware will be broadly available to DoD and commercial missions at costs that make large constellations feasible.