Exapmple of Development

CASE STUDY

Antenna for Nanosatellites

Request by our customer

Request for development of an ultrasmall antenna to be used for Cube-sat of 6U size

Requirements

Background

We received a request for the further downsizing of X-band antennas developed for the small satellite “Hodoyoshi” and “Procyon” to mount a new antenna on an ultrasmall satellite of 6U size. The client also hoped to add a Ka-band high-gain antenna, so we were required to have a more advanced design technology. Needless to say, the new antenna needs to tolerate the environment unique to outer space, so we had to revise our antenna design significantly.

Solutions

For X-band antennas, we modified the shape and structure of the antenna to control directivity and gain.
For Ka-band antennas, we chose materials and modified the structure of the antenna to achieve required strength and electrical performance.

Outcome

We reduced the weight of the X-band antenna to 15 g or less and the weight of the Ka-band antenna to 35 g or less. The gain of the Ka-band antenna was improved to 16.3 dBi, attaining the target value.

Comment from our engineer

The size of the new antenna is much smaller than that of the previously developed one, so we faced difficulty in producing and tuning it. It is very tiny compared with the large scale of space, but we hope that it will considerably contribute to future space development.