This paper studies the wave based active vibration control of a membrane antenna structure. The membrane antenna structure studied in this paper has a great prospect in aerospace engineering. First, the dynamic model of the membrane antenna structure is established based on the finite element method. Then, based on the hypothesis of modal excitation mechanism, a wave-based controller is designed using the wave attenuation method. This method does not depend on the wave transfer function of the structure, so it can be applied to structures with complex shapes and boundaries. At last, the validity of the presented controller is verified through numerical simulations. Simulation results indicate that the dynamic behavior of the membrane antenna structure shows obvious wave characteristics; the presented controller can suppress the vibration of the structure effectively through holding back the formation of standing waves, and better control effect can be obtained when the actuators are placed near to the excitation point.