Final Presentation EL1-044 Hollow Cube Corner Retroreflectors for In-Orbit PNT
Last Updated: 24/07/2025 09:29 Created at: 24/07/2025 09:29
On 23rd July 2025, INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati), with Media Lario, delivered the final presentation of the NAVISP EL1-044 Hollow Corner Cube Retroreflectors (HCCRs) for InOrbit PNT project. The objective was to design, manufacture and qualify lightweight HCCRs for satellite and lunar laser ranging applications as an alternative to the solid glass reflectors currently used on most satellites.
The team established stringent optical specifications (532/1064 nm, λ/10 wavefront, ≥0.9 reflectivity), developed through MediaLario's trademarked Repliformed Optic manufacturing process. They conducted metrology (interferometry and autocollimation) tests, and demonstrated mechanical robustness, while identifying screws mounting torque and delamination related issues, which will be carried over as lessons learnt.
Future work will include further mass savings and optical performance improvement. Besides this, they will optimize mechanical interfaces, scale to 4 inches for Earth Moon ranging, and explore array configurations.
The project was fully funded by NAVISP Element 1. The slides of the final presentation are available here.