The “Microwaves and THz Metamaterials” Special Interest Group and the “Space and Aviation” Challenge Area from the UK Metamaterials Network+ will organise on Wednesday 26 August 2026, a special event on Metamaterials Shaping the future of Aviation and Space Technologies, co-located with the UCMMT 2026.
Session Overview
Metamaterials have emerged as a key technology reshaping the electromagnetic landscape through ability to manipulate wave propagation beyond natural limits. This special session aims to explore the latest advances in metamaterial-inspired devices and architectures for next-generation aviation space communication systems.
The session focuses on integrating the theoretical foundations of electromagnetics, RF, Microwaves and THz in future enabled technologies with advanced metamaterial concept to overcome high-performance challenges in secure space and aviation communications, security, and stealth applications. This session invites contributions from academia, RTOs, and industry partners promoting on how intelligent metamaterials can transform the development of sustainable, and resilient space communication and aviation sensing platforms.
Planned Activities (to be confirmed)
To achieve the aim of bridging advanced metamaterials with real‑world defence and space communication applications, the following activities are planned:
- Aviation Applications Keynote: Targeting to invite one distinguish leader from aerospace agencies as keynote.
- Space Communication Keynote: Targeting to invite one professor in the areas of space communication.
- Panel Discussion around policy and dual-use implications, regulations, ethical aspects, collaboration and technology transfer gap between industry and academia, and potential funding pathways for the future smart enabling technologies using metamaterial for aviation and space applications.
- Networking and collaboration designed to identify opportunities for joint proposals, cross‑sector partnerships, and student exchange initiatives within the UCMMT community.
- Paper presentation.
Subtopics
This session welcome contributions that addresses these challenges and propose innovative solutions in the following but not limited specialised areas:
- Metamaterial Antennas for Satellite and Deep‑Space Communication
- Intelligent Metasurface for adaptive beam steering between satellite and ground station.
- Multifunctional Metamaterials for satellite in sensing and communication
- Reconfigurable metamaterials and metasurfaces for satellite communications.
- Metamaterial based deployable antennas for microsatellite (cubesat, nanosat) applications.
- Metamaterial coatings for shielding and electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction for spacecraft application.
- Metamaterial absorbers for solar energy harvesting for satellite application.
- Metamaterials and Metasurface for satellite bus systems, communication payloads, and modular integration.
- Metamaterials for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Systems.
- Broadband radar-absorbing Metasurface for stealth technology applications.
- Metamaterial based Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) for jam-resistant data links.
- FSS-integrated metamaterial antennas.
- Metamaterials for radomes maintaining RF transparency under high-temperature, pressure applications.
- Reconfigurable Metasurfaces for beam steering and anti-jamming in contested electromagnetic environments
- Metamaterial antennas integrated into platforms like aircraft wings or masts for multifunctional, low-profile data links.
- AI-optimized metamaterial designs for radar invisibility cloaks and adaptive countermeasures.
Full-registration general attendees of UCMMT can attend this special session at no extra cost. Special session invited speakers will not pay registration. Regular attendees of the special session will pay a registration fee of £20.
More details on invited speakers, tentative timetable, how to send contributions, registration, etc. will be published in due course.