RISAT-2B:ISRO Team Develops Indigenous Expertise in Radial Rib Antenna

Radial Rib antenna (RRA) used in RISAT-2B spacecraft was indigenously developed by Indian Space Research Organisation in record time of 13 months. This 3.6 metre antenna was folded & stowed during launch and later successfully unfurled & deployed in-orbit. The deployment was completed in 7 mins and 20 seconds. Import of the equipment would have delayed the project by three to four years.
Development of light weight structure, hinge mechanism, design of newer mesh, actuators etc., were some of the challenges involved in the realisation of this antenna. All such key technological elements require very high level of expertise in handling space based antenna system, excellent workmanship and building redundancy apart from managing its in-orbit deployment.
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