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Additive manufacturing van antenne voor sonderingsraket

The project aims to transition a flight-proven patch antenna design—originally handmade&nbsp; for use on sounding rockets into a design suitable for scalable production using additive&nbsp; manufacturing (AM). This antenna is part of a radio interferometry system used to track and&nbsp; localize rockets in flight. While developed for sounding rocket missions, the underlying&nbsp; technology has potential applications and in other fields and vehicles within the aerospace sector. Spacecific will focus on adapting the existing antenna design to meet the technical&nbsp; requirements and constraints of additive manufacturing processes. This includes&nbsp; redesigning elements of the antenna to account for AM-specific tolerances and structural&nbsp; properties, without compromising RF performance.&nbsp; The Aviation AM (AAMC) will focus on developing a reproducible and industrial-grade AM&nbsp; production route for the antenna components. This includes design-for-AM consultation,&nbsp; selection and qualification of high-performance polymers (e.g., PEKK, PEEK), and the&nbsp; development of integrated metallization strategies such as electroplating or selective&nbsp; coating. &nbsp;Key design questions will be investigated in this process:<ul><li>Design optimizations required for AM: The original antenna was manually built&nbsp; and mounted on a curved rocket fuselage. Transitioning to AM requires revisiting&nbsp; shape, thickness, and internal structure to ensure both manufacturability and&nbsp; electromagnetic functionality.</li><li>Metallization of plastic: The antenna operates on a stack-up consisting of&nbsp; conductive and non-conductive layers. This must be integrated in the manufacturing&nbsp; process.</li><li>Mounting and structural resilience: The antenna must be able to withstand the&nbsp; mechanical stresses of rocket flight, including vibration, aerodynamic loading,&nbsp; operating temperature range. Mounting strategies and mechanical reinforcements&nbsp; will be designed, simulated and validated accordingly.</li><li>Interfacing with RF systems: The antenna must integrate connect to onboard&nbsp; transceivers. This involves evaluating methods to connect the RF signal to the&nbsp; antenna while also being suited for the rocket space constraints</li><li>Test flight: The antenna will be tested on a sounding rocket to validate the&nbsp; production method.</li></ul>This subproject has a strong cross-border character, bringing together complementary&nbsp; expertise from the Dutch and German partners. The Dutch partner contributes its&nbsp; knowledge of RF systems and aerospace antenna design, while the German partner offers&nbsp; advanced knowledge in additive manufacturing techniques, including material processing&nbsp; and fabrication workflows. This cooperation addresses a shared technological challenge and boosts innovation in the&nbsp; border region. By combining RF engineering with advanced AM, it enables the development&nbsp; of high-performance, flight-proven, and easily adaptable antenna designs. This positions&nbsp; SMEs to enter the growing space and aerospace market, strengthening regional&nbsp; competitiveness and driving cross-border high-tech manufacturing. &nbsp;

Additive manufacturing of Sounding rocket antenna

The project aims to transition a flight-proven patch antenna design—originally handmade&nbsp; for use on sounding rockets into a design suitable for scalable production using additive&nbsp; manufacturing (AM). This antenna is part of a radio interferometry system used to track and&nbsp; localize rockets in flight. While developed for sounding rocket missions, the underlying&nbsp; technology has potential applications and in other fields and vehicles within the aerospace sector. Spacecific will focus on adapting the existing antenna design to meet the technical&nbsp; requirements and constraints of additive manufacturing processes. This includes&nbsp; redesigning elements of the antenna to account for AM-specific tolerances and structural&nbsp; properties, without compromising RF performance.&nbsp; The Aviation AM (AAMC) will focus on developing a reproducible and industrial-grade AM&nbsp; production route for the antenna components. This includes design-for-AM consultation,&nbsp; selection and qualification of high-performance polymers (e.g., PEKK, PEEK), and the&nbsp; development of integrated metallization strategies such as electroplating or selective&nbsp; coating. &nbsp;Key design questions will be investigated in this process:<ul><li>Design optimizations required for AM: The original antenna was manually built&nbsp; and mounted on a curved rocket fuselage. Transitioning to AM requires revisiting&nbsp; shape, thickness, and internal structure to ensure both manufacturability and&nbsp; electromagnetic functionality.</li><li>Metallization of plastic: The antenna operates on a stack-up consisting of&nbsp; conductive and non-conductive layers. This must be integrated in the manufacturing&nbsp; process.</li><li>Mounting and structural resilience: The antenna must be able to withstand the&nbsp; mechanical stresses of rocket flight, including vibration, aerodynamic loading,&nbsp; operating temperature range. Mounting strategies and mechanical reinforcements&nbsp; will be designed, simulated and validated accordingly.</li><li>Interfacing with RF systems: The antenna must integrate connect to onboard&nbsp; transceivers. This involves evaluating methods to connect the RF signal to the&nbsp; antenna while also being suited for the rocket space constraints</li><li>Test flight: The antenna will be tested on a sounding rocket to validate the&nbsp; production method.</li></ul>This subproject has a strong cross-border character, bringing together complementary&nbsp; expertise from the Dutch and German partners. The Dutch partner contributes its&nbsp; knowledge of RF systems and aerospace antenna design, while the German partner offers&nbsp; advanced knowledge in additive manufacturing techniques, including material processing&nbsp; and fabrication workflows. This cooperation addresses a shared technological challenge and boosts innovation in the&nbsp; border region. By combining RF engineering with advanced AM, it enables the development&nbsp; of high-performance, flight-proven, and easily adaptable antenna designs. This positions&nbsp; SMEs to enter the growing space and aerospace market, strengthening regional&nbsp; competitiveness and driving cross-border high-tech manufacturing.