Environmental Concerns With Liquid-Crystal-Based Printed Reflectarrays in Space

This letter documents testing done with radio frequency (RF) materials considered for liquid crystal (LC) reflectarray elements for potential space applications. It includes studies of the impact of space-simulated environmental conditions. Testing focused on thermal vacuum, electron and X-ray radiation, and surface charging. Tests were performed on individual candidate materials and on a final assembled LC RF element. This letter summarizes the findings of tests performed to identify design obstacles to the transition of printed LC RF elements for space applications.