Ka-band high-gain mesh deployable reflector antenna enabling the first radar in a CubeSat: RainCube

Abstract

This paper presents a novel mesh deployable Ka-band antenna design folding in a 1.5U (10×10×15cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> ) stowage volume suitable for 6U (10×20×30cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> ) class CubeSats. Detailed results, considering all aspects of the deployable mesh reflector antenna, show that 42.6 dBi gain and 52% aperture efficiency is achievable at 35.75GHz. The mechanical deployment mechanism is also described as it constraints and drive the RF choices. The mesh prototype antenna has been fabricated and measurement results show excellent agreement with simulations.