The Ancient Art That Could Transform Space Communication

Artist impression of the Voyager spacecraft with its 3.7m antenna. A new study reveals the techniques of origami may be able to build antennae of the future (Credit : NASA)

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo have developed an origami inspired foldable antenna for CubeSat satellites that weighs just 64 grams yet in orbit, it deploys to two and a half times its stowed size. The antenna folds away neatly for launch and deploys automatically in space, achieving high gain communications performance from a package small enough to fit in your pocket and could one day support missions as far away as the Moon.

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