Optisys has been selected by Masten Space Systems to provide the return link antenna system for Masten’s upcoming mission to the Moon.
The Optisys antenna system will fly aboard Masten’s XL-1 lunar lander, which is scheduled to land at the Lunar South Pole as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
The XL-1 will deliver NASA and commercial payloads to assess the composition of the lunar surface and demonstrate new technologies that will be critical to humanity’s sustained presence on the Moon.
Optisys uses metal additive manufacturing to produce those RF designs. This allows Optisys to fully integrate many components and aspects of antenna systems into a very small, lightweight, and efficient package, saving valuable weight on spacecraft.
Optisys has been selected to provide the full communications system, which will include everything from the radiating element to the control electronics and software.
“This project is a demonstration of Optisys’ excellent space system design capability,” commented Optisys CEO Janos Opra. “Being able to integrate so much of the RF and wider system will provide the smallest, lightest, and most integrated package available on the market.”
Optisys, LLC is a privately-owned RF design and metal additive manufacturing company. Optisys’ approach allows the company to create highly integrated antenna and radar products that achieve extremely low SWaP. Optisys has a broad product line ranging from feeds to phased arrays for antenna and radar applications from sea to space.