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Analysis of institutional authors

Porras-Hermoso, AngelAuthorRoibas-Millan, ElenaCorresponding Author

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December 1, 2025
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Mechanical design for industrialization of a deployable structure for Low Earth orbiting satellites constellations

Publicated to: Results in Engineering. 28 108066- - 2025-12-01, DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108066

Authors:

Larrea-Martinez, Andres; Caballero, Ruben; Porras-Hermoso, Angel; Roibas-Millan, Elena
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Affiliations

EOSOL Grp, C Camino Labiano 45A Bajo, Navarra 31192, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Inst Univ Ignacio Da Riva IDR UPM, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Aeronaut & Espacio, Pza Cardenal Cisneros 3, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author

Abstract

The new constellations of communication satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are changing the space landscape; these thousands of objects launched into space stand out especially for offering greater coverage and lower latency but putting a satellite constellation into orbit represents a great challenge from the manufacturing point of view since large volumes of units need to be manufactured in the shortest possible time. This work focuses on the mechanical design of a deployable structure for a UHF band helical antenna. The proposed mechanical design is based on the concept of "Design Focused Manufacturing and Assembly DFMA", since from an industrial perspective, productivity can be maximized by implementing a flexible mechanical design with as few components as possible, thus presenting an easy configuration during the integration and testing phase. For the structural validation of the design, mechanical simulations are performed to study the static and dynamic behavior. In the second stage of this study, several prototypes are manufactured for their kinematic analysis, experimental tests are performed, and structural behavior data are obtained from the use of accelerometers and data collection systems. The data obtained are processed by means of scripts, this will allow the mechanical characterization of the prototypes and later validate them with simulation studies. To verify this concept, the antenna has been integrated into a real prototype that has been measured in the Anechoic Chamber of Ilmenau, showing a high correlation between simulation and measurements. Finally, the impact of the proposed concept on the flight performance of the satellite is analyzed by performing an orbital dynamics analysis to determine the life cycle of the satellite and to understand how the proposed design will affect the orbital parameters.
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Keywords

AntennaBehaviorConstellationDeployable antennaDeploymentIndustrializationInternetManufactureSatelliteSpace

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Results in Engineering due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 5/179, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-11-12:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 5 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
    • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/96036/
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    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Larrea-Martínez, Andrés) and Last Author (ROIBAS MILLAN, ELENA).

    the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been ROIBAS MILLAN, ELENA.

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    Project objectives

    Los objetivos perseguidos en esta aportación se centran en abordar los retos industriales asociados a la fabricación masiva de estructuras desplegables para constelaciones de satélites en órbita baja. Se pretende: analizar el diseño mecánico de una estructura desplegable para una antena helicoidal en banda UHF; aplicar el concepto de Diseño Enfocado en Fabricación y Montaje (DFMA) para maximizar la productividad mediante un diseño flexible y simplificado; validar estructuralmente el diseño mediante simulaciones mecánicas estáticas y dinámicas; fabricar prototipos para realizar análisis cinemáticos y pruebas experimentales con sistemas de adquisición de datos; caracterizar mecánicamente los prototipos y validar los resultados con simulaciones; e integrar la antena en un prototipo real para medir su desempeño en cámara anecoica y evaluar el impacto del diseño en la dinámica orbital y vida útil del satélite.
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    Most relevant results

    Los resultados más relevantes de esta aportación se centran en el diseño mecánico y la validación de una estructura desplegable para antenas helicoidales en constelaciones de satélites en órbita baja. En primer lugar, se desarrolló un diseño mecánico basado en el concepto DFMA, optimizando la productividad mediante una configuración flexible con pocos componentes. En segundo lugar, se realizaron simulaciones mecánicas para analizar el comportamiento estático y dinámico de la estructura. En tercer lugar, se fabricaron prototipos para análisis cinemático y pruebas experimentales, obteniendo datos estructurales mediante acelerómetros y sistemas de adquisición. Además, se validó la correlación entre simulación y mediciones en cámara anecoica. Finalmente, se evaluó el impacto del diseño en el rendimiento orbital mediante un análisis dinámico de la vida útil del satélite.
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    Awards linked to the item

    This research is partially funded by the "Industrial PhDs 2023 '' grant from the Government of Navarra.This research has been applied in an ESA project. "Deployment Demonstrator of Stacked Tri-Band Antenna for Positioning Navigation-Timing Use Cases on Small Satellites". Code: AO/1-11843/23/NL/AS.
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