Comprehensive Review of Ku, K, and Ka Band Antenna Designs: Applications in CubeSats

Abstract Cube satellites (CubeSats) have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their cost-effectiveness and the rapid production capabilities enabled by commercial off-the-shelf components. This research comprehensively reviews 45 antenna designs for CubeSats operating in high-frequency bands, specifically the Ku, K, and Ka bands. Among the antennas reviewed are fourteen patch and patch array antennas, one slot antenna, two leaky wave antennas, three array antennas, seven reflector antennas, eight reflectarray antennas, three metasurface antennas, four cavity-backed antennas, one helical antenna, one lens antenna, and one horn antenna. These antennas are evaluated based on performance parameters such as gain, bandwidth, reflection coefficient, CubeSat size, and deployability to determine which designs suit the limited space available on CubeSats. Particular attention is given to the challenges in designing CubeSat antennas, including achieving high gain, broad bandwidth, multi-band capability, low profile, and circular polarization. This research aims to enhance our understanding by identifying high-frequency antenna designs that may benefit future CubeSat missions.