Configurable Reflectarray for Electronic Wideband Scanning Radiometry (CREWSR)

Recent advances in deployable, rigid, panelized antennas and low-noise RF silicon-on-insulator (RFSOI) integrated circuits now make possible a new class of instruments that offer low-power, low-mass, low-cost, high-performance, and compatibility with ESPA-class small satellite systems. In this proposal, we demonstrate system-level technologies supporting a Configurable Reflectarray for Electronic Wideband Scanning Radiometry (CREWSR), and we develop a complete ProtoType (PT) of this instrument (PT-CREWSR) that demonstrates all the needed core technologies of a large-aperture CREWSR instrument that would benefit many earth science focus areas that rely on microwave imaging and sounding. The PT-CREWSR instrument that we propose to build and test will operate at 23.8, 31.4, and 50-58 GHz and will include a 0.6 m x 0.9 m lightweight thin-panel configurable reflectarray that can electronically scan the antenna beam over a 45-degree field of view in two dimensions. The PT-CREWSR instrument will demonstrate all the core technologies needed to realize a very-large-aperture (1.8 m x 1.8 m) system comprising six of these panels, which can be folded up into an ESPA-class small satellite and deployed to achieve a factor of ten improvement over current state-of-the-art microwave temperature sounder spatial resolution. The single panel to be built as part of the PT-CREWSR instrument will consume less than 3W of average power with a mass less than 3 kg and will provide the performance of a phased array system with a factor of 100 reduction in power consumption, as no amplifiers are needed in the reflectarray surface – only low-power FET switches are used in each of approximately 20,000 elements in the panel to select one of 16 different phase states. Simulations of the antenna feed, reflectarray antenna elements, and the custom 45RFSOI beamformer radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) developed as part of this work yield excellent performance with antenna beam efficiencies of approximately 95 percent over the entire scanned field of view. The ultracompact feed module at the focus of the reflectarray comprises an entire tri-band radiometer with antenna feeds, calibration network, filter bank, and digital processing and control electronics. A computer board operates the radiometer and controls the reflectarray surface to permit switching of the antenna beam state on the order of a microsecond. The noise performance of the PT-CREWSR demonstration instrument proposed here will be at least as good as current state-of-the-art sensors such as the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, as the losses in the reflectarray surface (approximately 3 dB) are completely counteracted by the fact that PT-CREWSR can observe the field of view four times as long as a constant-velocity, mechanically cross-track-scanned system with a +/-45-degree field of view. In addition to the realization of very large apertures from an ESPA-class small satellite platform, the electronic beam steering capability opens up a broad new trade space of how satellite-borne radiometers can be operated, both in low-earth and geostationary orbits. The beam can be pointed at any point in the field of regard at any time, and this permits much more sophisticated spatial and angular sampling of the scene to be achieved. The spatial sampling could be dynamically optimized based on the characteristics of the scene being viewed, and super-resolution techniques could be used to focus on a region of interest to further improve spatial resolution by a factor of two with no increase in noise. The project is led by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, who will provide the reflectarray and system integration and test in collaboration with U. California-San Diego, who will provide the phase shifter and beam forming RFICs. Entry TRL is 2 and exit TRL is projected to reach 5.

Enabling lower cost innovative remote sensing instrument development from concept through breadboard and demonstration

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.