The Satellite Technology Group has partnered with White Label Space to provide the space-qualified mechanisms for our mission in the Google Lunar X PRIZE. To do this they will build upon their strong track-record of developing telepresence technologies for space applications.
Our Google Lunar X PRIZE mission is a perfect example of telepresence in space and a key requirement for such missions is a steerable High Gain Antenna (HGA) that can continuously point to a relay satellite or ground station, adjusting to the relative motion of the two bodies. The Satellite Technology Group is currently developing a two-degree-of-freedom steering mechanism and HGA suitable for demonstration on a 50kg class spacecraft.
The video below shows a prototype of the antenna pointing mechanism on a display model. The video also shows computer simulations of a solar array deployment and pointing mechanism also developed by the Group.
