Harris Antenna Reflector For SIRIUS FM-5 Radio Communications Satellite Deployed
Melbourne, FL -- An advanced antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corporation for use onboard the SIRIUS FM-5 satellite was successfully deployed on orbit on July 15, 2009.
Harris, an international communications and information technology company, provided the reflector and the onboard articulating boom to Space Systems/Loral, which designed and built the SIRIUS FM-5 satellite. The satellite was launched June 30, 2009 from Kazakhstan by International Launch Services using a Proton.
"SIRIUS FM-5 marks yet another successful deployment of a Harris reflector in a commercial application, and we are pleased that Space Systems/Loral again selected us to be part of its team in delivering next-generation satellite services," said Dan Pearson, group president, Harris Government Communications Systems.
The high-power, geostationary satellite expands the existing fleet of SIRIUS XM satellites already in orbit and improves the reception to subscribers' cars as well as their homes and offices, or wherever they use their SIRIUS radios. SIRIUS FM-5 is designed to provide more focused power in areas of peak population, such as metropolitan areas on the east and west coast, as well as improving reception when driving under heavy foliage. Its geostationary orbit assures that home receivers can aim at a fixed point in the southern sky to receive a signal on a constant basis.
SIRIUS FM-5 features an S-band payload. The Harris antenna reflector makes it possible for the satellite to focus the 2 GHz S-band signals on the U.S. in order to deliver improved and more powerful reception of SIRIUS' more than 130 channels.
The reflector features a Harris-patented, gold-plated mesh reflective surface coupled with a unique design that maximizes antenna gain and provides the improved performance required for mobile, media services while reducing stowed volume and antenna mass. During launch, the Harris reflector was stowed onboard the satellite much like an umbrella. Once on orbit, Space Systems/Loral controllers executed a series of maneuvers, and sent the commands to deploy an articulating boom and then unfurl the reflector. The reflector and boom were manufactured at Harris facilities in Palm Bay, Florida.
Harris has over 30 years of heritage designing, building and flying deployable mesh reflectors for government and commercial applications. With over 40 reflectors in orbit, Harris is the dominant supplier of large reflector apertures and deployable mesh reflector-feed antenna systems, from L-Band through K-Band, for all orbital regimes. Harris reflector products have the highest surface accuracy and most mass efficient design in the industry, while substantially exceeding the specified mean mission duration of the spacecraft and payload.
SOURCE: Harris Corporation