Circularly Polarized Adaptive Antenna Array for Small Satellites
Start Date
8-11-2017 1:30 PM
End Date
8-11-2017 5:30 PM
Abstract
The increased popularity of small satellites such as CubeSats as an alternative vehicle for efficient and low-cost space exploration has revolutionized the space research industry. The small physical size and other constraints owing to outer space applications has presented a myriad of exciting opportunities for antenna engineers to come up with alternative solutions to meet the ever-evolving needs of the CubeSat applications. The advancement of technology has enabled small satellites to carry out sophisticated missions such as space weather monitoring, space telescopes, imaging and relaying of information from distant satellites. Advanced applications require a high-speed downlink with base station to secure a high data transfer rate and the need for the increased data rate has facilitated communications at a much higher frequency. The focus of this research is the development of a high gain pattern reconfigurable circularly polarized antenna array to maximize the link budget and optimize the bit transfer rate per pass. The uniform antenna array operates at X-Band and has the capability to reconfigure the radiation pattern between a broadside main beam and a fan shaped split beam mimicking an Isolux radiation pattern. The antenna switches its beam depending on the position of the satellite with respect to the curvature of the earth, thereby maximizing the antenna efficiency given the coverage area.
Circularly Polarized Adaptive Antenna Array for Small Satellites
The increased popularity of small satellites such as CubeSats as an alternative vehicle for efficient and low-cost space exploration has revolutionized the space research industry. The small physical size and other constraints owing to outer space applications has presented a myriad of exciting opportunities for antenna engineers to come up with alternative solutions to meet the ever-evolving needs of the CubeSat applications. The advancement of technology has enabled small satellites to carry out sophisticated missions such as space weather monitoring, space telescopes, imaging and relaying of information from distant satellites. Advanced applications require a high-speed downlink with base station to secure a high data transfer rate and the need for the increased data rate has facilitated communications at a much higher frequency. The focus of this research is the development of a high gain pattern reconfigurable circularly polarized antenna array to maximize the link budget and optimize the bit transfer rate per pass. The uniform antenna array operates at X-Band and has the capability to reconfigure the radiation pattern between a broadside main beam and a fan shaped split beam mimicking an Isolux radiation pattern. The antenna switches its beam depending on the position of the satellite with respect to the curvature of the earth, thereby maximizing the antenna efficiency given the coverage area.
