Broadband Sounding Rocket Antenna for Dual-Band Telemetric and Payload Data Transmission

This letter presents and investigates a broadband sounding rocket antenna developed for dual-band data transmission of telemetric and payload systems. This single-element antenna permits the use of both the well-established 869.4-869.65 MHz and 2.4-2.4835 GHz frequency bands available in Europe to implement a redundant transmission of telemetric and tracking data desired for reliability. Furthermore, the available spectrum in the upper band offers a high-speed wireless link for transmitting payload data. To preserve the mechanical integrity and aerodynamics of rocket, the antenna is integrated in its nose cone. The proposed low-cost and low-weight structure is based on printed circuit board (PCB) pieces assembled in a LEGO-like manner to form a broadband three-dimensional (3-D) biconical antenna, which is fed by a diplexer integrated in its base. A prototype has been fabricated and validated using a reduced-length fuselage in a near-field measurement system.