Deployable antennas for CubeSat and space communications

Costantine, J.; Tawk, Y.; Ernest, Anthony J.; Christodoulou, C.G.

doi:10.1109/eucap.2012.6206124

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Inherently small helical antennas (i.e. designed and optimized for higher frequencies) fit easily inside CubeSat volumes [5][6][7][8][9]. Promisingly, compact high-gain antennas designed for low frequencies of 300 MHz approaching those of AIS can be made to fit in small satellites [10][11][12], although their uncontrolled deployment methods lead to highly unpredictable pointing and vibration effects on the satellite.…”

Section: A Helical Antenna Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deployable Bistable Composite Helical Antennas for Small Satellite Applications

Knott

Viquerat

2019

AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An ultra-compact deployable helical antenna is presented, designed to enhance space-based reception of Automatic Identification System signals for maritime surveillance. The radio frequency performance (i.e. peak gain and directionality) is simulated at 162 MHz using ANSYS High Frequency Structure Simulator and evaluated over a range [0.5-8] of helical turns. Established and commercially available omnidirectional antennas suffer interference caused by the large number of incoming signals. A 7-turn helix with planar ground plane is proposed as a compact directional-antenna solution, which produces a peak gain of 11.21±0.14 dBi and half-power beam width of 46.5±0.5 degrees. Manufacturing the helical structure using bistable composite enables uniquely high packaging efficiencies. The helix has a deployed axial length of 3.22 m, a diameter of 58 cm, and a stowed (i.e. coiled) height and diameter of 5 cm-the stowed-to-deployed volume ratio is approximately 1:9,800 (0.01%). The use of ultra-thin and lightweight composite results in an estimated mass of 163 grams. The structural stability (i.e. natural vibration frequency) is also investigated to evaluate the risk an unstable deployed antenna may have on the radio frequency performance. The first vibration mode of the 7-turn helix is at 0.032 Hz indicating the need for additional stiffening.

show abstract

Section: A Helical Antenna Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deployable Bistable Composite Helical Antennas for Small Satellite Applications

Knott

Viquerat

2019

AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Antenna miniaturization techniques that result in electrically small antennas are extremely desirable especially in applications with limited space constraints. Several instances of such techniques include the folding, spiraling, and meandering of line antenna structures [40,51,52]. Besides size, high gain and circular polarized characteristics are also required for CubeSats.…”

Section: Circular Polarizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Antennas for Picosatellite Applications

Lokman

Soh

Azemi

et al. 2017

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cube Satellite (CubeSat) technology is an attractive emerging alternative to conventional satellites in radio astronomy, earth observation, weather forecasting, space research, and communications. Its size, however, poses a more challenging restriction on the circuitry and components as they are expected to be closely spaced and very power efficient. One of the main components that will require careful design for CubeSats is their antennas, as they are needed to be lightweight, small in size, and compact or deployable for larger antennas. This paper presents a review of antennas suitable for picosatellite applications. An overview of the applications of picosatellites will first be explained, prior to a discussion on their antenna requirements. Material and antenna topologies which have been used will be subsequently discussed prior to the presentation of several deployable configurations. Finally, a perspective and future research work on CubeSat antennas will be discussed in the conclusion.

show abstract

“…To date, Helix, log‐spiral, folded spiral, monopole, turnstile and inverted‐F antennas have been proposed for small satellite applications . All of these antennas, apart from folded spiral and inverted F structures, have the problem of being bulky which makes utilizing deployment mechanism necessary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Miniaturized dual‐band PCB inverted F/L antenna for nano‐satellite application

Soghi

Armaki

Fartookzadeh

2017

Micro & Optical Tech Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents the design and implementation of a miniaturized dual‐band PCB inverted F/L antenna, with right‐handed circular polarization (CP) for Nano‐satellite application. This antenna has been designed in UHF/VHF amateur radio frequency bands, 144 and 435 MHz, which have been allocated for these applications. The proposed design is composed of four spiral‐shaped lines, printed on a FR‐4 substrate. Dimensions of each antenna are only 6.8 × 23.38 cm2, and they have been driven by 90 degrees phase difference in order to generate CP. Bandwidth and axial ratio of the antenna is about 1% and 1.68 dB in VHF, and is about 4% and 0.37 dB in UHF, respectively. A prototype of proposed antenna has been manufactured and tested. It will be shown that the simulation results are in good agreement with the measurements.

show abstract

Deployable antennas for CubeSat and space communications

Cited by 18 publications

References 5 publications

Deployable Bistable Composite Helical Antennas for Small Satellite Applications

Deployable Bistable Composite Helical Antennas for Small Satellite Applications

A Review of Antennas for Picosatellite Applications

Miniaturized dual‐band PCB inverted F/L antenna for nano‐satellite application

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About