CFRP/Graphite Heat Dissipation Device Enables Lighter, More Mobile Satellite Communication

The redesigned heat dissipation device combines carbon fiber prepreg with layers of graphite. Source (All Images) | Mitsubishi 

Non-terrestrial network (NTN) antennas connect smart devices or drones to satellites, and can be placed in fixed locations like rooftops or, increasingly, mobile ones such as vehicles, marine vessels or aircraft. The high-power electronics required to operate the system necessitate high levels of heat dissipation performance to protect the overall antenna, conventionally achieved with an aluminum heat dissipation device that conducts heat safely away from the structure. However, the desire for increasingly mobile and movable antennas creates a need for the overall structure to be as lightweight as possible, including the heat dissipation device.

In July 2025, four Tokyo, Japan-based companies started a collaboration to target this challenge: Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), electronics company Sharp Corp. and engineering and manufacturing company Techlab Co. Ltd.

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The goal was “to jointly develop ultra-compact, lightweight satellite communication terminals for mobility applications, and address the excessive weight and thermal management limitations of the conventional aluminum design,” explains Mitsubishi Chemical. The new structure also needs to maintain the antenna’s required electrical and heat dissipation performance.

First, the partners defined the thermal and weight requirements of the device to determine the optimal materials, then designed the structure. For lightweighting, the partners naturally turned to carbon fiber composites; for the thermal conductivity requirements, they settled upon graphite, commonly used for in-plane thermal conductivity in electronics but too brittle to be used on its own in a structural part.

Mitsubishi Chemical developed and supplied carbon fiber prepreg (resin for this specific demonstrator application is undisclosed, but would commonly be an epoxy) and graphite sheet materials that would be layered together, while Techlab developed the mold and process technology for forming the final part.

The heat dissipation device, also called a thermal management device, sits between the antenna and modem.

As of June 2026, the new heat dissipation device has been completed and tested, integrated into the planar antenna, and the electrical performance of the antenna has been verified and its overall operation demonstrated. After manufacturing by Techlab, Sharp integrated the completed device into the NTN planar antenna and validated the electrical and terminal-level performance.

The results? The device, which on its own weights less than 1 kilogram, is reported to reduce overall antenna weight by 47%, from 5.5 to 2.9 kilograms. This supports “the broader aim of making satellite communication terminals practical for installation on drones, vehicles and other mobility platforms,” Mitsubishi Chemical says.

Regarding its thermal conductivity performance, the company adds, that testing showed no meaningful degradation in antenna performance compared to the conventional aluminum design. Radiation pattern differences remained within measurement error, and receive-gain characteristics were unchanged. The team also confirmed operation of the antenna with a model as a complete satellite communication terminal, demonstrating that the lighter system can fit within the payload capacity limits of commonly used industrial drones and can be mounted on vehicles and other mobility platforms.

The project is now moving forward into further evaluation of thermal performance and mountability, along with continued prototyping and demonstrators toward practical deployment on drones, vehicles and other mobility platforms.