Helio Corporation's Antennas Join NASA Europa Clipper Mission

Berkeley, CA—Heliospace, a subsidiary of Helio Corporation, has announced the successful deployment of their radar antennas on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on October 14, 2024. These deployable antennas are part of the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) instrument. Heliospace handled the design and assembly of the antennas under a contract with Caltech.

The antennas, compactly designed to fit on the solar arrays of the Europa Clipper, will extend into two large 17.6-meter dipoles and four smaller dipoles during the mission. Greg Delory, CEO and co-founder, emphasized the significance of contributing to the exploration of Europa, one of the most intriguing bodies in the solar system where life-supporting conditions might exist.

Under Dr. Donald Blankenship of the University of Texas at Austin, the REASON instrument aims to analyze Europa's icy surface and potential seawater below. The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Europa Clipper program.