Additive manufactured antennas and feeds for terrestrial and space systems

Two additive manufacturing (AM) methods used for antenna fabrication are metal printing and dielectric printing followed by conductive plating [1]. Examples of metal printed antennas are shown in Fig. 1a (linear polarized quadridge horn antenna) and Fig. 1b (circularly polarized choke ring horn antenna). The quadridge horn is part of satellite high gain reflector antenna feed, operating over 18 to 31 GHz, for use in NASA’s Wideband Commercialization Project [2]. A comparison of the antenna’s performance with a conventional machined antenna showed negligible difference over the full frequency range [3]. The choke ring horn antenna was designed for NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe mission and had similar performance to an equivalent antenna fabricated using conventional machining [4]. The AM processes developed underwent rigorous screening and testing to yield a part with high reliability, needed in space applications.