> FreeFall’s antenna technology is unique because it is using a spherical reflector. In the past, antennas always used a parabolic antenna. A parabolic antenna focuses energy to a “single point” – while a spherical antenna focuses energy to a “focal line”. Parabolic antennas are symmetric about only one axis which severely limits field of view. It also requires precise pointing for high gain and has more complex packaging, deployment and on-orbit operations.
The spherical antenna provides a wider field of view for antennas and high gain without re-pointing of an antenna. Combining a spherical antennas with inflatables is the key to achieving a large aperture in a simple lightweight system.
Kinda funny. Antenna gain is beam width. Antennas with large effective apertures have narrow beam widths.
I can easily buy that it could be cheaper to launch a 50m spherical inflatable antenna than a rigid 25m parabolic antenna. But it's never going to be true that a spherical antenna with the same gain as a parabolic will have a wider beam width.
