Low back radiation compact antenna for data downlink in LEO satellites

GALVÁN, JULIÁN; COLANTONIO, DANTE

Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC), 2009 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Año: 2009 p. 816 - 820

1679-4389

We describe the design, manufacturing and measurement of an antenna with an hemispherical type radiation pattern used in the space segment X-Band Data Downlink subsystem. In particular, this antenna corresponds to the flight model of mission SAC-D/AQUARIUS, which is a LEO earth observation satellite. The chosen solution is a compact choke ring type antenna, which reduces back radiation. By using a septum polarizer, selectable polarization, high power handling, and high st r uctural stiffness are achieved .