The PICARD (Prototype Inflatable Conical Antenna - REXUS Deployement) experiment serves the purpose on bringing the inflatable conical helix antenna to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and prove its functionality in a space like environment. For this purpose it will be launched onboard a REXUS sounding rocket (REXUS/BEXUS program of DLR, SNSB and ESA ) to an altitude of 90km altitude and
a milligravity time of around 140 seconds. The primary goal lies within the deployment behaviour characterization while the secondary goal is of the validation on the deployed antenna performance. Over the last year, a study funded by UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) was carried out by the University of Strathclyde and the University of Birmingham on the use of an inflatable conical helix antenna for the WISCER (Wideband Ionospheric Sounder Cubesat Experiment) mission investigating the ionosphere. The work carried out in Glasgow was focused on the development of the technologies to deploy this inflatable conical helix antenna from a storage a third of a 3U cube satellite. Not only will this test validate the deployment method but also provide information on how the antenna inflates, settles and rigidises which are critical to the final design of the conical helix WISCER cubesat design. This is the case as the shape of the conical helix antenna determines the properties of the signal transmitted. For the WISCER experiment a known wideband radar signal is transmitted from WISCER, down through the ionosphere to a receiving station on Earth. The changes that occur to this known signal are the ionospheric effects to be investigated. This test will allow detailed knowledge to be factored into the design of the antenna and subsequently result in greatly enhanced accuracy of the ionospheric data.
