Session
Technical Session XI: Communications
Abstract
Antennas conformal to a Cubesat surface have many advantages compared to deployed antennas. This study presents two types of conformal antennas that do not compete for the expensive surface real estate with solar cell. The first type of antenna is optically transparent antennas integrated directly on top of commercial solar cells. The second solution is slot antennas that can be placed around solar cells. For the transparent antenna, by optimizing the antenna geometry, we are able to achieve about 95% transparency. We have measured the performance of solar cells with the antenna integrated on them. It is found that the overall effect of the antenna on the entire solar panel is less than 3% and therefore promising the future implementation of such antennas in small satellite missions. For the slot antenna design, compared to the previous fully integrated prototype, we present an alternative excitation method to achieve circular polarization. In addition, this study provides a solution for UHF antennas, which is very challenging with traditional methods due to the size limitation of Cubesats. It is shown that one can feasibly design a UHF antenna with slot geometry by considering all four walls of a Cubesat.
Presentation Slides
Characterization of Two Types of Conformal Antennas for Cubesats
Antennas conformal to a Cubesat surface have many advantages compared to deployed antennas. This study presents two types of conformal antennas that do not compete for the expensive surface real estate with solar cell. The first type of antenna is optically transparent antennas integrated directly on top of commercial solar cells. The second solution is slot antennas that can be placed around solar cells. For the transparent antenna, by optimizing the antenna geometry, we are able to achieve about 95% transparency. We have measured the performance of solar cells with the antenna integrated on them. It is found that the overall effect of the antenna on the entire solar panel is less than 3% and therefore promising the future implementation of such antennas in small satellite missions. For the slot antenna design, compared to the previous fully integrated prototype, we present an alternative excitation method to achieve circular polarization. In addition, this study provides a solution for UHF antennas, which is very challenging with traditional methods due to the size limitation of Cubesats. It is shown that one can feasibly design a UHF antenna with slot geometry by considering all four walls of a Cubesat.
