LISA-T Microgravity Deployment Demonstration

NeXolve is excited to announce that all three deployment mechanisms included in the LISA-T design were successfully demonstrated during a microgravity experiment. LISA-T is the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and anTenna system that is designed to stow in and deploy from a 1U CubeSat. The results of the microgravity experiment are further evidence of a viable design that is ready for an on-orbit demonstration and eventually commercial utilization. 

The microgravity experiment was funded through a Cooperative Agreement Notification (CAN) with NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and the SpaceTech Reddi program and NeXolve. The experiment was conducted on an aircraft owned and operated by Zero Gravity Corporation. 

The aircraft performs parabolic maneuvers to create the microgravity conditions. Each maneuver provides approximately 30 seconds of microgravity. The LISA-T design includes three deployment mechanisms and each mechanism was individually tested during separate 30 second sessions of microgravity. The first mechanism separates the four stowed solar panels and single antenna from the CubeSat. The second mechanism releases the four solar panels to begin unfolding. The third mechanism actively unfolds each of the solar panels. The deployment was captured with video recording devices and the footage is being compiled into a demonstration video. 

The stowed power density of LISA-T is significantly higher than current state of the art, meaning LISA-T technology provides more electric power at a lower mass and volume. The incorporation of a communications system with the power system saves resources by sharing the deployment mechanisms and the design enables spherical coverage. 

The LISA-T design has progressed from a low fidelity concept in fiscal year 2015 into a technology that is currently at Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6). The system has been evaluated in major areas of concern for a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) including solar cell performance, antenna performance, deployment effectiveness, resistance to Vacuum UltraViolet (VUV) radiation, resistance to low energy radiation, resistance to atomic oxygen erosion, humidity exposure, extended stowage, and effects of thermal cycling. The LISA-T design meets the requirements for survival in a LEO environment. The LISA-T design is currently being refined and a flight unit will be manufactured that is to be included on a NASA Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) mission. NeXolve is eager for the opportunity to demonstrate the LISA-T technology on orbit.

Deployment structures and mechanisms intended for space applications are difficult to model and test. The gravity offload rigs employed restrict range of motion during the deployment and fall short of mimicking microgravity conditions. The LISA-T design leverages strained energy with two of the deployment mechanisms and there were concerns that the dynamics of the deployment with those mechanisms could cause damage to the system. The flight opportunity for the microgravity deployment experiment not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the deployment mechanisms, but also allowed the team to dismiss the concerns of the strained energy deployments.