See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/241264245

Design of an Antenna System for CubeSat Satellites

Conference Paper · February 2013

CITATIONS READS
7 14,330

3 authors:

Erika Pittella Stefano Pisa

Sapienza University of Rome Sapienza University of Rome
75 PUBLICATIONS   758 CITATIONS    170 PUBLICATIONS   2,698 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Augusto Nascetti
Sapienza University of Rome
177 PUBLICATIONS   1,561 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Lab-on-a-chip devices for forensics View project

U-VIEW View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Erika Pittella on 31 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Techn Session XIII: CUBESAT SUBSYSTEMS ‐ COMMUNICATIONS  1

IAA-CU-13-13-05

Design of an Antenna System for CubeSat Satellites

E. Pittella*, S. Pisa**, A. Nascetti***.

The aim of this work is to design a three-dimensional antenna system for

CubeSat satellites that operates in the 435-438 MHz frequency band and
occupies only one of the faces of the cube. Two linear monopole antennas
and a helix antenna have been proposed. Since the antenna material is a
flexible metal similar to the tape of a roller meter, the chosen geometry
allows to wrap the monopole around pivot placed on the CubeSat face and
turn down the helix on the same face during the launch phase. Results show
that the antenna system has a three-dimensional radiation pattern and a very
good return loss at the desired operational frequency. The linear monopole
has been realized and the measurement results are in good agreement with
simulations.

Introduction
Up to now more than 70 CubeSats have been placed into orbit to study
satellite communication, biology, and heart quake[1]-[3]. However, some of
these missions failed due to communication problems[4]-[6]. A possible
explanation of these failures can be found in the antenna design. In fact, one
placed into orbit these satellites start to communicate with the ground station
by deploying their antennas. However, since the satellite orientation is not a-
priori predictable, the planned antenna orientation could not guarantee
enough gain in the earth direction. For this reason a three-dimensional
antenna system is necessary.

                                     
*
Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications,
Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy,
pittella@diet.uniroma1.it
**
Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications,
Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy,
pisa@diet.uniroma1.it
***
Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Energy Engineering, Sapienza University
of Rome, Via Salaria 851/881, 00138 Rome, Italy, augusto.nascetti@uniroma1.it
2  

This problem is not trivial because, typically, only one face of the CubeSat
can be used for containing the antenna system since the others are used for
solar cells. Moreover, during the launch, the antenna must be folded on the
CubeSat face and deployed when the CubeSat is expelled from the space
capsule. So a proper antenna geometry and material must be chosen. Several
antennas have been proposed for CubeSat, with wire antennas being the
dominant choice[7, 8].
In this paper, in order to achieve a deployable antenna with a 3-dimensional
radiation pattern in the frequency band allocated to the amateur satellite
service (435-438 MHz) a system composed by three monopole antennas has
been designed by using Microwave Studio by CST. In particular, two
antennas are linear monopole antennas and the third is a helix antenna. All
the antennas will be realized with spring steel and allocated on a face of the
CubeSat. During the launch phase the antennas will be tied down with a
fishing line so that when the satellite is released the antennas can be
deployed by burning the fishing line.

Models
1. Linear Monopole Antenna Model
The chosen monopole antenna dimensions are width w = 0.3 cm, and
thickness t = 0.02 cm. Since the antenna has to work at 1/4 of the operating
wavelength ( = 70 cm) its length is l = 17.5 cm. The chosen geometry
allows to wrap the monopole around pivot placed on the CubeSat face. Fig. 1
outlines the monopoles and supports positioning on the satellite model.

Fig. 1 CubeSat model with two monopole antennas.

   3

2. Helix Monopole Antenna Model

The third antenna is positioned at the center of the face of the cube where the
other two monopoles are placed. The radiating structure is a flared helix 14.4
cm long with a starting diameter of 6 mm, and three turns with a pitch of
about 60° (see Fig. 2). The flaring shape allows turning down the helix
during the launch phase optimizing the space occupation .

(a) (b)
Fig. 2 Helix antenna model: (a) perspective view and
(b) top view.

Simulation Results
The simulated return loss of the monopole antenna is reported in Fig. 3. The
figure shows a reflection coefficient that is well below -10 dB at the
operational frequency, i.e. 437 MHz.

-5

-10
dB

-15
11
S

-20

-25

-30
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 3 Return loss of the monopole antenna.

4  

(a) (b)
Fig. 4 Radiation pattern of the two monopole antennas.
(a) z-directed monopole and (b) y-directed monopole.

The simulated farfield radiation patterns at the frequency of 437 MHz are
reported in Fig. 4 for the z-directed (a) and y-directed (b) monopole
antennas. The figure shows that the two antennas have a toroidal radiation
pattern with a maximum in the xy plane for the z-directed monopole and in
the yz-plane for the y-directed monopole.
Concerning the flared helix antenna, Fig. 5 shows its return loss as a function
of the frequency. As it is highlighted from the picture, the S11 absolute value
is lower than -10 dB at 437 MHz.

-2

-4
S11 dB

-6

-8

-10

-12
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 5 Return loss of the flared helix antenna.

   5

Fig. 6 Radiation pattern of the flared helix antenna

covering the xz plane.

The simulated farfield radiation pattern for the helix antenna is shown in Fig.
6. It is clear from the figure that this antenna, together with the two
previously described monopoles, allows the CubeSat to communicate in all
the three space directions.

Measurement Results
In a preliminary prototype, the linear monopole antenna has been realized
with copper and allocated on a face of a metallic cube. Its reflection
coefficient has been measured by the network Analyzer Agilent
Technologies, E8363B. Measurement results are shown in Fig. 7 and are in a
very good agreement with simulations (see Fig. 3).

-5

-10

-15
dB

-20
11
S

-25

-30

-35

-40
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 7 Reflection coefficient of the realized monopole.

 6  

Conclusions
The design of an antenna for CubeSat satellites has been carried out. The
antenna system occupies only one face of the cubical satellite and it is able
to operate in the frequency band allocated to the amateur satellite service, i.e.
435-438 MHz, and to radiate a 3-D pattern in that UHF band. The measured
reflection coefficient of a realized prototype is in a very good agreement
with the simulated one.
In the final realization the three antennas will be realized with spring steel
and connected to the Tx/Rx system operating around 437 MHz.
Moreover, the considered antennas are also suitable for dual band operation.
In particular, with reference to the helix antenna, this can be achieved
modifying the pitch angle in a suitable manner [8].

References
[1] B. Herbst, F. Zeiger, M. Schmidt, and K. Schilling: UWE-1: a Pico-Satellite To
Test Telecommunication Protocols, 2005 Proceedings of the 56th International
Astronautical Congress, Fukuoka, Japan.
[2] G. Minelli, C. Kitts, K. Ronzano, C. Beasley, R. Rasay, I. Mas, P. Williams, P.
Mahacek, J. Shepard, J. Acain, J. Hines, E. Agasid, C. Friedericks, M. Piccini,
M. Parra, L, Timucin, M. Henschke, E. Luzzi, N. Mai, M. Mcintyre, R. Ricks,
D. Squires, C. Storment, J. Tucker, B. Yost, G. Defouw, A. Ricco: Extended
Life Flight Results from the GeneSat-1 Biological Microsatellite Mission,
2008, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small
Satellites, Logan UT, 2008.
[3] M. Long, A. Lorenz, G. Rodgers, E. Tapio, G. Tran, K. Jackson, R. Twiggs: A
cubesat derived design for a unique academic research mission in earthquake
signature detection, 2003, 16th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small
Satellites, Logan UT.
[4] B. Klofas, J. Anderson, K. Leveque: A Survey of CubeSat Communication
Subsystems, 2008, in 5th Cubesat Developers Workshop, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, April 9-11.
[5] G.J. Wells, L. Stras, T. Jeans: Canada’s Smallest Satellite: The Canadian
Advanced Nanospace eXperiment (CanX-1), 2002, 21st AMSAT Space
Symposium and Annual Meeting, Logan, UT, Aug. 12-15.
[6] T. Lorentzen: Attitude Control and Determination System for DTUsat1, 2002,
CubeSat project Department of Automation, Ørsted DTU.
[7] J. Costantine, Y. Tawk, A. Ernest, C.G. Christodoulou: Deployable antennas
for CubeSat and space communications, 2012, 6th European Conference on
Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), pp.837-840, 26-30.
[8] G. Zhou: A non-uniform pitch dual band helix antenna, 2000, IEEE Antennas
and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2000, vol. 1, pp. 274 –277.

View publication stats