Space deployable antennas

Because of the twin pressures of limited spectrum resources and information explosion there is a clear trend toward larger reflector antennas in space operating at high frequencies. This requires the use of deployable reflectors which can be stowed within a relatively small volume to fit within a missile housing, or the US Shuttle cargo bay, and be opened in space to provide a high accuracy reflector surface. The author describes several systems illustrative of the state-of-the-art.