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CGC Space: Shaking up theantenna marketCGC was founded by Dr Mark Gardner in 1985 to provide a new approach to industrial andaerospace design, prototype and low volume manufacture using 3D modelling and advancedCAD systems. CGC Technology was incorporated in 1996, and in 2001 it developed a novelsatellite tracking antenna system, which enabled the realisation of ground stations for low Earthorbit (LEO) satellites. CGC Space was established as a separate entity in 2008. Today, itproduces antennas for low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO) and geostationary(GEO) satellites, as well as radomes, turnkey ground stations and mobile stations. CGC Spacewas awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2009 for its innovative X/Y antenna system,and in 2016 won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its international exports. Amy Saundersmet with CGC Space’s Director of Satellite Ground Systems Greg Lloyd-Davies, and Sales andMarketing Director Geoffrey Penhaligon, at its base in Farnham, UK, to find out more about thecompany’s operations, the business environment and its plans going forward.

Antennas are a key component in all satellite operations.Without them, operators would be unable to transmit orreceive signals. Requirements have changed significantly withtime, with demand for smaller, more accurate and more mobileantennas peaking in recent years. Companies with an eye tothe future like CGC Space have upped their game to providemore options and more customisations to keep ahead ofcustomer demand.

CGC Space produces a portfolio of standard antennasranging from 1.8m to 13.0m in diameter, which operate on L,S, X, C, Ku and Ka-bands. It also offers deployable antennasthat can pack into a set of flight cases, which are well-suitedfor military applications. There are a number of mountingoptions available, including roof and tower mounts, as well

as mobile and trailer options that allow the rapid transport ofantennas to a customer site for immediate/temporaryoperation as an alternative to a fixed antenna system.

The antennas can be rendered mobile via integration intovehicles, and CGC Space has also previously producedtowable antennas for cars, vans, and heavy goods vehicles(HGV). The small and medium-sized antennas require verylittle modification to be trailer mounted, and the reflectorscan be removed during transportation. “Once you go larger,they become very different systems,” said Lloyd-Davies. Themobile 6.1m antennas usually have pedestals divided intotwo sections with hydraulic jacks for erection, and the dishpetals fix to a permanent central petal. The high stability ofthe larger mobile antennas is down to the self-levelling

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hydraulic system of the vehicle. Systems are equipped withdifferential GPS and can typically be assembled very quicklyto be operational in under two hours.

CGC Space designs and manufactures nearly all of themechanical parts in-house, while the electrical and RFequipment are a combination of commercial off-the-shelf(COTS) parts and CGC Space-designed parts, which providegood value for money and excellent performance.

Today, CGC Space’s customers are looking for customantennas with lifetimes comparable to the satellites they serveand low through-life costs. “Now that satellites are beingdesigned for a longer life, the ground stations need to havelifetimes in line with the satellite,” said Lloyd-Davies. CGCSpace’s oldest antenna went into service in 2001; althoughit wasn’t designed to have a 15-year life, it is still in operationtoday. Current systems are designed with 15 years’ operation,as a minimum. While CGC Space offers antennas from itsstandard product portfolio, it also offers customised non-standard combinations of reflector, pedestal, feeds andmounts to meet customer performance, environment andphysical requirements.

Carbon fibre reflectors; advantages over aluminiumreflectorsCGC Space designs and manufactures its own carbon fibrereflectors, which are lightweight, rigid, highly-accurate andefficient. Carbon fibre makes the expansivity of the reflectorvirtually zero over the likely temperature range, a majoradvantage over aluminium reflectors.

The CGC Space reflector and sub-reflector are a dual-shaped design with very high performance enabled bycontrolling the reflector edge taper and reducing the central(blocked) illumination, which greatly improves signalreception. The company offers a range of frequency selectivesub-reflectors which, for example, can reflect X-band signalsto the cassegrain feed across the band, while allowing thepassage of S-band signals to and from the prime focus feedbehind the sub-reflector.

X/Y versus AZ/EL antennasCGC Space specialises in X/Y antennas, with AZ/ELantennas making up a much smaller proportion of itsbusiness. AZ/EL mounts are well-suited to tracking fixedtargets like GEO satellites, but they have an inherentweakness when pointing overhead, and often cannot movequickly enough even at 40°/s and higher speeds to track LEOsatellites due to their need to spin 180° at zenith to continuefollowing an overhead or near-overhead pass. This results insignal loss at zenith, the infamous ‘keyhole effect,’ whichmakes AZ/EL antennas poorly suited for LEO applications.

In contrast, CGC Space’s X/Y antennas typically onlymove at 4°/s, although they can move faster if required, andare ideally suited for tracking LEO and MEO satellites. TheX/Y mount does not need to move quickly to track thoughzenith or at any other part of its hemispheric coverage due toits unique geometry. The much slower movement speed ofthe X/Y antennas makes them more cost-effective for LEOand MEO satellite tracking, since motors and drive systemscan be smaller and use less power.

CGC Space is currently developing new GEO satelliteantenna lines. “We’ve got customers that say, ‘We like yourX/Y antennas, we like your engineering, we like your approachto design and customisation, and we’d like you to build ourAZ/EL antennas for GEO applications,” said Penhaligon.

Quality controlQuality control is of critical importance in all manufacturingfacilities, and nowhere is this truer than in satellite antennaproduction sites. The ground station elements are every bitas mission-critical as the satellite, since without the ability tosend and receive data to the ground, the satellite serves nopurpose.

CGC Space holds ISO9001 and ISO14001 andmanufactures to AS9100. Quality is paramount in themanufacture and testing of the antenna and ground stationsystems. However, there are different approaches in termsof requirements from different customers, with some requiringa very commercial product based approach where basicsystem performance is key, and other customers that requirecompete system validation as a major part of the workundertaken.

CGC Space undertakes factory acceptance and on-siteacceptance testing of every system, however, this may belimited to headline parameters such as G/T, pass receptionand tracking. Anywhere from 30 or 40 tests, or indeedhundreds of tests for a fully comprehensive overview, maybe required to validate a complex system.

On the day of Satellite Evolution’s visit, a 3.7m antennadestined for an international customer was demonstrated,having completed its factory acceptance tests the day before.

Radomes: Cutting costs and protecting from theelementsRadomes can play a vital role in ground station operations,particularly in extreme environments. They protect antennasfrom snow accumulation, drifting and ice build-up, hightemperatures, high winds, and also from corrosive elementslike salt or sand in the case of coastal or desert locations.Radomes also provide a better environment for anymaintenance required. It’s not just in extreme conditions thatradomes are of value; they are also beneficial in more benignenvironments, improving reliability and extending antennalifetimes by reducing environmental effects.

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CGC Space has been manufacturing 3-20m radomes forfive years. Various constructions are offered, including foamcore and reinforced PTFE fabric and spaceframe for higherfrequencies. CGC Space provides radomes tuned for L, S,X, C, Ku and Ka-bands, singly or in combination. “Being amanufacturer makes us highly competitive, especially inconjunction with our antenna products,” said Penhaligon.

Lloyd-Davies highlighted another benefit of radomes. Thesize of antenna reflector that can be installed on a specificmount is limited by the operational and survival wind speeds,but using a radome to protect against wind enables a muchlarger reflector to be installed on the same mount. Accordingto Lloyd-Davies, this can be more cost-effective than simplyusing a larger mount.

Auto-tracking softwareOne of the things that sets CGC Space apart from itscompetitors is its leading edge auto-tracking technology,which has been developed to offer customers the ability totrack LEO, MEO and GEO satellites in orbit without an ‘onsatellite’ beacon. Today, CGC Space offers two versions ofits auto-tracking technology.

The first system comprises both software and hardware

elements, using a mode coupler to track the satellite signal.“To have a mode coupler based system that tracks on thedata signal and provides very precise tracking, we believe tobe unique!” said Lloyd-Davies. “This is a large step forwardin LEO and MEO satellite tracking, as these generally do nothave a beacon on-board.” LEO and MEO satellites are usuallytracked by programme track, where the track is generated bymathematical propagation from the last known satellitepositional and orbit data, and can be prone to errors leadingto some signal loss. Older tracking methods such as aConscan based systems can reduce the antenna sensitivitysignificantly. There are no such losses with the CGC Spacemode coupler based system.

The second of CGC Space’s auto-track systems is mainlysoftware based; although a CGC auto-track receiver isrequired, the mode coupler is not, reducing costs. It tracksbased on complex algorithms which provide excellent tracking3.

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for small and medium aperture systems, and again trackssatellites without a beacon.

Both systems work on any frequency band, although withthe mode coupler system, different hardware is required fordifferent bands.

The changing antenna marketThe antenna market is growing, and not just because moresatellites are coming online. Over the past year, commercialsatellite launches have increased year-on-year, with morethan 60 percent of those satellite launches being LEO/MEOsatellites. “The users are changing; the development ofsatellite-gathered data uses is one of the most rapidly-changing areas, with more and more diverse applicationsbecoming viable,” said Penhaligon. Just ten years ago,satellite imaging for agricultural applications was limited dueto the costs, but now it has becomea cost-effective option whencompared to ground level monitoring,particularly in large farms.

The large number of LEO satelliteconstellations proposed and underdevelopment in recent years hasprovided the opportunity for largenumbers of antennas to be deliveredto the same project, which was notfrequent previously. The amount ofdata generated by a constellation ishuge, and the business models arebased on low cost and high volume,as well as immediate availability. Thisprovides a number of challengingopportunities to move the productionof ground stations from singles tomultiples, with a concomitant costreduction. Indeed, CGC Spacerecently provided seven 5.0msystems to one operator.

CGC Space’s market presenceCGC Space has installed more 60antennas in 28 countries around theworld, from Svalbard in Norway,Europe, America, Asia to NewZealand. Its antennas are operatingin many different environments, fromthe harshest coastal and desertlocations to arctic conditions.

The company originally producedone or two larger antenna systemseach year; today, this has grown toaround 12 per year. At its Farnhamfacility, where all of the design,procurement, project management,assembly and testing takes place,CGC Space can now produce morethan 20 antenna systems annually. Itsimmediate goal is to increaseproduction to full capacity, and,should demand outstrip capacity,CGC Space has provisional plans torelocate to a larger site.

CGC Space intends tosignificantly expand its product

portfolio over the next few years to include larger systems,as well as more Ka-band systems. There will also bediversification into other market areas with electronicproducts.

CGC Space operates in a global market and has only asmall fraction of its business in the UK; much is outside ofEurope. Delivering services across the globe and across alltimes zones has its challenges. CGC Space currentlysupports systems on six continents and provides a technicalhelp desk service plus annual maintenance services for anumber of clients. The expansion of service support is seenas crucial for world-class companies that require very highavailabilities e.g. 99.8 percent, and long in-service life. CGCSpace is still in the process of developing its service division,which currently consists of five service engineers and oneadministrator.

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