Sergio Pellegrino
California Institute of Technology
Presenting in Track 6: Advances in Aerospace Technology
Presentation Title: In-Space Assembly of Large Reflector Antennas
Abstract: Since the beginning of space exploration, large space structures have been built on the Earth, packaged for launch in a rocket, and unfolded in orbit. However, recent advances in autonomous robotic systems and advanced manufacturing have made it feasible to launch sets of modular parts to be assembled by robots, and even to manufacture in space the needed parts. This talk will present a scalable reflector antenna concept based on the "tension truss" architecture, that is assembled within a self-contained robotic truss builder. Antennas with apertures of hundreds of meters could be built in this way, and would fit within currently existing rockets. A small-scale space demonstration, currently under way, will demonstrate this new approach.
Biography: Sergio Pellegrino is the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering at Caltech, JPL Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Caltech Space Solar Power Project. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of AIAA and a Chartered Structural Engineer. He has been President of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) and the founding chair of the AIAA Spacecraft Structures Technical Committee. Pellegrino has received a Pioneers’ Award in 2002 from the Space Structures Research Center, University of Surrey, NASA Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement Team Awards in 2009 and 2016, and the IASS Torroja Medal in 2022.