Dual-Band Circular Polarized Antennas for Small Spacecraft

This paper presents an overview of global trends in the development of antennas for small spacecraft and analysis of design options and materials used. Based on the results, the version of a dual-band weakly-directional microstrip printed antenna for a Cubebat-type spacecraft was selected. An antenna operating on circularly polarized electromagnetic waves in the operating frequency ranges L1 (1575.42 MHz) and L2 (1227.60 MHz) of the GPS global positioning system has been developed. For each of the operating frequency ranges L1 and L2, an electrodynamic simulation of the antenna is performed, the geometry and placement of each emitter on the substrate were optimized. The optimization was carried out taking into account the required value of axial ratio above 0.7 within the two operating bandwidths of at least 2.06 MHz and the half power beam width (HPBW) of at least 90°.