Investigation of VHF Deployable Antennas for Satellite Applications

This paper presents a comprehensive study of various antenna configurations, including Yagi, monofilar, bifilar, trifilar, quadrifilar, reflector/parabolic, and microstrip structures, for VHF satellite deployable applications. Operating within the VHF frequency range (118 MHz to 137 MHz), where antenna sizes are inherently large, achieving high-gain (approximately 9 dBi) antennas with circular polarization requires careful design considerations. Our findings demonstrate that monofilar and bifilar helical structures deliver optimal performance for deployable applications. Additionally, a bifilar antenna with a quarter-size reduction (approximately 460 M H z), featuring both standard and spider web ground planes, was fabricated for experimental validation.