Spacecraft Antennas for Earth Science and Interplanetary Missions

Dr. Nacer Chahat has more than ten years of experience designing, analyzing, and developing antennas for telecommunications, RADAR, and imaging systems. His experiences include spacecraft antennas, telecommunication, and payload systems engineering. He is also specialized in accurate EMI/EMC for large satellites and led the EMI/EMC qualification of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) payload.

He has authored and co-authored more than 100 technical journal articles and conference papers, written four book chapters, and holds several patents. He also wrote the textbook entitled “CubeSat Antenna Designs” published by Wiley, describing all of his innovative work on CubeSat antennas developed at JPL. He has developed key antenna technologies enabling new types of missions for Earth Science and Deep Space Exploration. He is co-inventor of the iconic deployable reflectarray used on the Mars Cube One (MarCO) mission, the world’s first interplanetary CubeSat.

He also co-invented the award-winning Raincube mesh reflector antenna used on the first active radar on a CubeSat. He also invented the Europa Lander antenna enabling direct communication from the surface of Europa (600 million km away), capable of surviving the harsh environment of the icy moon of Jupiter.