eureco® EM-bridge™

2023

We are seeking licensees for our EM-bridge technologies in space and terrestrial applications.

2022 Patents Audit Summary

Our EM-bridge invention has been granted in the following International states:

⁃Australia

⁃Hong Kong

⁃Japan

⁃Singapore

⁃United States of America

⁃South Africa

Our EM-bridge invention has been granted in the following party states to the European Patent Convention:

⁃France

⁃Germany

⁃Ireland

⁃Italy

⁃Luxembourg

⁃Netherlands

⁃Spain

⁃UK

Patents are pending in:

⁃Canada

⁃India

2020/2021

Thanks to funding through the ESA Technology Transfer Programme, during the COVID lockdowns, we were kept busy with the simulation, design, fabrication and test of our proof of concept transportable/deployable radio telescope (POC TDRT).  

The deployable planar direct radiating array (DRA) antenna of the POC TDRT comprises 120 microstrip patch elements to form a 2.5m x 2.1m rectangular aperture. The beam forming network uses an air substrate to eliminate dielectric loss and to reduce cost.  Our EM-bridge technology contributes <1deg.K to the system noise temperature.  

In a traditional parabolic reflector antenna, it is necessary to under-illuminate the reflector to reduce spill-over to the ground, which would otherwise increase the system noise temperature of the radio telescope.  As a consequence, the sensitivity of the POC TDRT is comparable to that obtained with a 3m diameter dish and the resolution is almost twice as good due to the smaller effective aperture of the dish.

We enjoy making celestial observations of hydrogen radio emissions and we have learned a lot about radio astronomy in the process.

The POC TDRT was demonstrated to professors at The Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, who were impressed by transit observations of the sun, galactic plane, Cygnus A and Cassiopeia A.

Our aim is to license the manufacture and marketing of TDRTs for outreach, university projects and STEM activities.

February 2018

As part of our Innovate UK activities, we are designing, building and testing a S-Band deployable direct radiating array antenna for self-deployment from a CubeSat.  Also, we are considering terrestrial applications of the eureco® EM-bridge™, namely:

•  Radio frequency (RF) / microwave curing of  composites in the aerospace and automotive industries, where our invention would be used with robotic arms to apply energy to composite items, and
•  Radio astronomy, where the eureco® EM-bridge™ would be key item in a towable/deployable radio telescope for use by universities and amateur astronomers.

2017 – During Q2 activities of our Innovate UK project, laboratory testing of the UHF-SATCOM Breadboard of the eureco® EM-bridge™ confirmed a radio frequency energy efficiency of 99.5%. The invention is a disruptive technology enabling the development of deployable direct radiating array (DRA) antennas.

Building on the grant of a UK patent for the invention, the intellectual property rights (IPR) have been extended by patent filings in Europe (at the European Patent Office), Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Singapore, South Africa and the USA to protect future export and licensing opportunities.

In-house additive manufacture (AM) has been used to 3D print most of the parts in the UHF-SATCOM Breadboard     

  3D printing/ additive manufacture (AM)

1st July 2017

Start of Innovate UK project on the eureco® EM-bridge™ aimed at  P-band radar, UHF-SATCOM and CubeSat missions.

7th March 2017

The UK IPO grants patent GB2537885 for deployable radio frequency transmission line (commercially named the “eureco® EM-bridge™”).

30th November 2016

Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, has advised that Eureco Technologies Ltd will be offered a grant to co-fund a project called "Feasibility Studies on the eureco® EM-bridge™". Project activities will include modeling and simulation of the eureco® EM-bridge™, as well as characterisation of the radio frequency (RF) and mechanical behaviour of the technology when embodied in a variety of structures that target different applications.

The project is a stepping stone towards strengthening the scientific understanding of the invention before transforming the innovation into a range of products that will exploit the unique features and benefits of the eureco® EM-bridge™ in the space market and terrestrial applications, e.g. industrial processing.

The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the invention will be raised to TRL4 by validation of breadboards in a laboratory environment, which is important progress along the path towards its acceptance by the space industry.

Targeted applications include:

• satellite telecommunications, e.g. deployable antennas for SmallSat/CubeSat missions through to large deployable direct radiating arrays for UHF Satcom missions, 
• Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IOT) communication solutions,
• synthetic aperture radar (SAR), e.g. for P-, L-, S-band missions.

Eureco Technologies Ltd plans to deliver flight hardware products to satisfy a demand for a modular row-fed antenna architecture within a period of 5 years.

November 2016

We participated in the ESA Industry Days on Additive Manufacturing for RF/Microwave hardware, held at ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

June 2016

A the Toulouse Space Show'16 in France, we exhibited a preliminary UHF Satcom breadboard of the eureco® EM-Bridge™ and participated in 26 B2B meetings.

April 2016

Our patent attorneys completed the filing of UK and international patent applications for our disruptive and enabling technology, namely the eureco® EM-bridge™.

November 2015

At SPACE TECH EXPO Europe in Bremen, Germany, we participated in several B2B meetings.

October 2015

At the 36th ESA Antenna Workshop on Antennas and RF Systems for Space Science, held at ESTEC in The Netherlands, we contributed a paper and poster entitled “Novel planar transmission line coupling elements for use in deployable antenna systems”. Both items were well received by ESA staff and industry personnel.

Innovated by EURECO® for the space industry.