Abstract
This paper presents two designs of high-efficiency polarizer reflectarray antennas able to generate a collimated beam in dual-circular polarization using a linearly polarized feed, with application to high-gain antennas for data transmission links from a Cubesat. First, an 18 cm × 18 cm polarizer reflectarray operating in the 17.2–22.7 GHz band has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The measurements of the prototype show an aperture efficiency of 52.7% for right-handed circular polarization (RHCP) and 57.3% for left-handed circular polarization (LHCP), both values higher than those previously reported in related works. Then, a dual-band polarizer reflectarray is presented for the first time, which operates in dual-CP in the frequency bands of 20 GHz and 30 GHz. The proposed antenna technology enables a reduction of the complexity and cost of the feed chain to operate in dual-CP, as a linear-to-circular polarizer is no longer required. This property, combined with the lightweight, flat profile and low fabrication cost of printed reflectarrays, makes the proposed antennas good candidates for Cubesat applications.
Highlights
CubeSats are a cost-efficient solution to conduct scientific research and to validate new communication technologies in space
Some recent developments on high-gain antennas proposed for Cubesat applications are deployable mesh reflectors [5,6], folded-panel reflectarrays [7,8], metasurfaces [9,10], and membrane antennas [11]
The design of a dual-band polarizer reflectarray is presented for the first time, enabling simultaneous operation in dual-circular polarization (CP) at the 20 GHz and 30 GHz bands
Summary
CubeSats are a cost-efficient solution to conduct scientific research and to validate new communication technologies in space. Several reflectarray antennas have been proposed to produce a CP beam using an LP feed [16,17,18,19,20,21], performing LP-to-CP conversion at the same time as collimating a high-gain beam (we will refer to them as polarizer reflectarrays) This technology allows to simplify the design of the feeding chain, reducing its cost; the results reported to date show that it is difficult to achieve high aperture efficiency with a broad operating band [16,17,18,19,20,21]. The design of a dual-band polarizer reflectarray is presented for the first time, enabling simultaneous operation in dual-CP at the 20 GHz and 30 GHz bands The results of both designs confirm the potential of reflectarrays as high-gain, low-stowage antennas for high-speed data transmission links from a Cubesat
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
