Maija Palmer of Sifted recently sat down with Isotropic Systems to talk about the antenna being developed that can handle signals from multiple satellite systems with no moving parts.
Maija Palmer of Sifted recently sat down with Isotropic Systems to talk about the antenna being developed that can handle signals from multiple satellite systems with no moving parts.
The cost of sending a satellite into space is about 1/20th of the price it cost two decades ago thanks to the arrival of SpaceX and its reusable rockets. But the price of the antennas that would capture the signals of all these new satellites remains prohibitive.
Plus, with a slew of satellite constellations from Elon Musk’s Starlink, UK’s OneWeb as well as Inmarsat, Intelsat, SpaceX, Amazon, SES and Telesat hitting the skies, there’s a growing cacophony of signals to listen to. , none of which will make antennas cheaper or easier to build.
However, British start-up Isotropic Systems hopes to solve the satellite industry’s antenna problem with new technology capable of receiving beams from several different satellites – at a price low enough that they can be used on commercial planes, ships and even buses.
The company has just raised $40 million in Series B funding from investors including SES, Boeing HorizonX Global Ventures and the UK government’s Future Fund to bring the technology to commercial production.
John Finney, the founder of Isotropic, says he was inspired to found the company after realizing how many different radio frequencies would be used during the wave of new satellite launches.
“I could see the satellite was going to have a big antenna problem,” he says.
The antennas are already difficult today. A high performance receiver can cost between $30,000 and $100,000 and can usually receive signals from only one type of satellite. They also need expensive mechanisms – or large phase gratings – to help track the signal as it moves across the sky.
“It’s prevented the wider market from being opened up to satellite use, it’s really been the Achilles heel of the industry,” says Finney.
The isotropic antenna, expected to be commercially available, is based on patented lens technology that bends radio waves so they can be tracked without the need for moving parts on the antenna.
The technology was inspired by the Roman drinking glass, the Lycurgus cup, from the 4th century
Believe it or not, the technology was inspired by the Roman drinking glass, the Lycurgus cup, from the 4th century AD, which displays red or green depending on the direction in which light passes through it.
The Lycurgus Cup works by tiny particles of gold and silver suspended in the glass that bend light to give it appearances of different colors. The exact process of making this glass is not understood even today, but it caused Finney, who has a background in optics and telecommunications, to wonder if radio waves could be bent using a similar method. .
The company now has over 7 patents issued around the technology and has contracts with the US Army and Navy to supply the antennas. The startup has also received backing from the UK government, which is increasingly keen to develop a domestic space industry. The United Kingdom is working, for example, with Lockheed Martin, to become a center for building and launching small satellites. Isotropic is creating new jobs in the space sector in the UK, by building a new engineering and testing facility near its headquarters in Reading which will employ some 220 people.
For more information, please visit Isotropic Systems website.
Brian Billman, Vice President of Product Management at Isotropic Systems, speaks at IET 2021 Milsatcoms Conference which will take place online from March 9 to 12, 2021. “One terminal. All satellites. Creating the future multi-layered communication ecosystem for MilSatCom” will be held on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
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