Development of Truss-Type Deployable Mesh Reflector Antenna—Part 2: Design and Ground Verification of 5 m-Scale Mesh Antenna

This study presents the detailed design, structural analysis, assembly, and on-ground verification of a 5 m-scale offset deployable mesh reflector antenna, which represents a scale-up development from a previous 1.5 m-scale design. To mitigate structural vulnerability risks inherent in large-scale configurations, a high-stiffness ring truss was designed using space-grade CFRP (M55J) composites and aluminum. Finite element analysis numerically evaluated that the fundamental frequencies satisfied the requirements for both stowed (≥33 Hz) and deployed (≥1 Hz) states. High-precision assembly was achieved using a custom curvature-forming MGSE, effectively preventing structural distortion of the ring truss under tension tie loads. High assembly precision was verified through dimensional and alignment measurements. In addition, it was confirmed through V-Stars photogrammetry that the final reflector’s surface RMS error was optimized to 2.5 mm. Finally, the structural validity and electrical performance of the antenna were verified through the antenna deployment functional test and RF near-field test.