Rapid Virtual Prototyping for Cubesat Scale Deployable Reflector Antennas

An open source approach to rapid virtual prototyping of parabolic reflector antennas is proposed.The impact of focal distance, illuminator offset from focal spot, and platform scattering are examined for an antenna to be mounted to an 8U CubeSat chassis with a constant arc length for the parabolic reflector.A total of 30 parametric variations were simulated and antenna patterns predicted in 16 minutes.The selected parabolic reflector was prototyped and measured on platform, with a correlation of 0.59 between the predicted and measured antenna patterns, with maximum total directivity of 20.6dBi and 17.6dBi respectively.