Abstract
The membrane antenna technology is a very promising approach to obtain large aperture with light weight and low stowed volume. In the past decades, extensive studies have been carried out on active and passive membrane antennas. However, the practical spaceborne applications are rare due to many challenges, e.g., the surface accuracy maintenance, the on-orbit reliability, and the environmental compatibility. This paper summarizes the history and state-of-art progresses on spaceborne membrane antennas. Curved surface reflectors, conformal active membrane antennas, planar array membrane antennas, and planar reflectarray membrane antennas have been introduced, respectively. Radiofrequency design, deploying mechanism, material, experiment, application, and analysis method have been presented. By concluding the advantages and challenges of the current membrane antennas, this paper is aimed at providing a perspective of the existing problems and future trend of spaceborne membrane antennas.
Highlights
Spaceborne antennas are widely used in telecommunication, navigation, remote sensing, deep space exploration, military, and other fields [1], and they are developed towards high gain, high accuracy, lightweight, smart, and reconfigurable features
There are emerging interests in low-frequency applications, such as search and rescue at VHF and UHF, biomass synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at VHF, and other military programs. These trends call for spaceborne antennas with even larger physical size, e.g., several hundreds of square meters or larger
In-orbit applications of membrane antennas are still rare, since many challenges exist in the membrane antenna study, among which the most important one is how to maintain high shape accuracy for a very thin membrane
Summary
Spaceborne antennas are widely used in telecommunication, navigation, remote sensing, deep space exploration, military, and other fields [1], and they are developed towards high gain, high accuracy, lightweight, smart, and reconfigurable features. Despite the demands of miniaturization for many radiofrequency equipment, spaceborne antennas are often expected to have larger aperture. This is to achieve higher sensitivity and smaller terminals on earth. There are emerging interests in low-frequency applications, such as search and rescue at VHF and UHF, biomass synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at VHF, and other military programs. These trends call for spaceborne antennas with even larger physical size, e.g., several hundreds of square meters or larger. Membrane antennas can be designed to have less parts and higher reliability. In-orbit applications of membrane antennas are still rare, since many challenges exist in the membrane antenna study, among which the most important one is how to maintain high shape accuracy for a very thin membrane
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