Ka-Band PAA for Satellite Telemetry System for RLVs & Aircraft, Phase II

The development and implementation of passive phased array antennas (PAAs) offers significant performance benefits over the current active arrays. The keys to successful development are the low-loss phase shifters and the integration of these phase shifters into a modular and scaleable antenna architecture for broad utilization for high data rate communications. The Phase 1 effort demonstrated a 3.0 dB 360-degree finline phase shifter at 25.25 to 27.5 GHz. The proposed effort will build on this Phase I phase shifter development and include the design, simulation, testing and integration of the rest of the antenna design and packaging for ease of manufacturing and scalability such that ~15dBi gain antenna is built and delivered to NASA for evaluation.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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.