Session
Session VII: Communications
Abstract
The UHF radio amateur band situated around 436 MHz is a very popular radio band for CubeSat Communications. This band has around 14.5 dB lower path loss compared to the popular S-band due to the lower frequency. The longer wavelength accompanied with the UHF band results in antennas that are relatively big compared to the size of a CubeSat. To communicate in this band, CubeSats are therefore equipped with linear wire antennas in dipole or turnstile configuration. Compared to patch antennas which are used to communicate in the S-band, these linear wire antennas have the downside that they need a deployment mechanism. This deployment mechanism increases the risk of failure during the mission, and subsequently asks more attention during design, integration and testing of the CubeSat. Furthermore, this system adds extra mass to the CubeSat and it takes up space that could be used by other subsystems. A novel planar antenna is proposed in this paper that obviates the need for deployment and meets most of the communication requirements for a CubeSat. Key characteristics of the proposed antenna is a gain of 3.72 dBi with a bandwidth of 2.82 MHz.
A Novel Planar Antenna for CubeSats
The UHF radio amateur band situated around 436 MHz is a very popular radio band for CubeSat Communications. This band has around 14.5 dB lower path loss compared to the popular S-band due to the lower frequency. The longer wavelength accompanied with the UHF band results in antennas that are relatively big compared to the size of a CubeSat. To communicate in this band, CubeSats are therefore equipped with linear wire antennas in dipole or turnstile configuration. Compared to patch antennas which are used to communicate in the S-band, these linear wire antennas have the downside that they need a deployment mechanism. This deployment mechanism increases the risk of failure during the mission, and subsequently asks more attention during design, integration and testing of the CubeSat. Furthermore, this system adds extra mass to the CubeSat and it takes up space that could be used by other subsystems. A novel planar antenna is proposed in this paper that obviates the need for deployment and meets most of the communication requirements for a CubeSat. Key characteristics of the proposed antenna is a gain of 3.72 dBi with a bandwidth of 2.82 MHz.
