日本語 
ArkEdge Space Co., Ltd., which provides comprehensive solutions from planning and design to mass production and operation of microsatellite constellations, is pleased to announce that it has successfully deployed the deployable antenna onboard its operational microsatellite AE1a in orbit.
This antenna is a core component in the VDES (VHF Data Exchange System: next-generation communication system for ships) demonstration project that our company is promoting. With the success of this deployment, we have established a foundation for verifying communication performance in orbit.
AE1a is a satellite that employs a “deployable antenna model compatible with VHF band transmission and reception” of the 6U satellite general-purpose bus, and its purpose is to develop and demonstrate technology that enables wide-area, real-time location tracking and communication of ships. With the successful deployment of the antenna this time, it will be possible to proceed with full-scale verification including transmission functions, in addition to the reception demonstrations that have been carried out so far.
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Our company has been conducting demonstrations of VDES-related technologies through multiple satellites, and this latest achievement represents a significant step forward in on-orbit demonstrations using deployable antennas. Moving forward, we will further advance verification toward the realization of a VDES constellation in cooperation with satellites already in operation in orbit.
The antenna image after deployment was downlinked from AE1a to the ground station via test signals.
Furthermore, this satellite is the result of the NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) subsidized project “Research and Development Project for the Development of Space Industry Technology Information Infrastructure (Development and Demonstration Support for General-Purpose Buses for Microsatellites) / Development and Demonstration of a 6U Standard General-Purpose Bus and its Production and Operation System for Rapid and Efficient Production of Multiple Units of Various Types,” and the NEDO commissioned project “Program for Fostering Important Technologies for Economic Security / Development and Demonstration of Ocean Situation Assessment Technology Using a Communication Satellite Constellation for Ships.”
SOURCE: PRTimes
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