Two Antenna Reflector Assemblies for LUNAR-GATEWAY
January 2026
HPS Space News
Following the completion of manufacturing for all components, HPS GmbH, Germany, successfully concluded the assembly and alignment activities of both models of the Antenna Reflector Assembly (ARA), developed as part of the Ka-Band Steerable Antenna (SKBA) for the LUNAR LINK SYSTEM. Lunar Link is European Space Agency’s advanced telecommunications infrastructure for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, designed to provide critical radio-frequency (RF) communication between the orbiting station and assets operating on and around the Moon, such as rovers, landers, and satellites. The system supports high-data-rate services, including live video transmission. Installed on the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), Lunar Link incorporates dedicated computers, radios, and antennas, serving as a key communications hub for the Artemis program’s lunar operations.
The main reflector, with a diameter of 1.25 m, was manufactured by machining a single aluminum-alloy block with an initial mass of approximately 1.3 tons, resulting in a final component weighing less than 10 kg. Multiple thermal stabilization steps were introduced during the machining process to relieve internal stresses, ensuring dimensional accuracy, geometric stability, and compliance with tight tolerances both during and after machining.
The alignment activities at HPS’s large new integration hall in Oberhaching (south of Munich, 20 min. by car from HPS Offices) were carried out using HPS’s high-accuracy, contactless laser-radar measurement system, employed to determine the relative position and orientation of the two reflectors (main and sub-reflector). The position of the sub-reflector was precisely adjusted using custom-designed support equipment. The achieved results are well within the stringent requirements defined by our customer chain Sener (Spain), ThalesAleniaSpace (France) and ESA/ESTEC (Netherlands), namely antenna component translations within a sphere of 0.06 mm radius and rotations within a 0.02-degree half-cone angle.
Both reflector assemblies are now safely packed in their respective transport containers and are ready for shipment to our direct customer in Spain.
The budget for the project was initiated already on ESA Ministerial Conference 2019, where Germany has committed for a certain SME-share to the construction of the Lunar Gateway. HPS received the contract for the Antenna Reflector Assembly in 2021. HPS CEO: “To be part of this outstanding international GATEWAY-Program makes us very proud. GATEWAY is another positive example for global collaboration supporting peace on Earth. We hope that we as SME can contribute with further equipment in the frame of robotics on and population of the moon.”
