BIRDS-1 CubeSat Constellation Using Compact UHF Patch Antenna

BIRDS-1 satellites, a constellation of five identical 1U CubeSats, were designed, manufactured, assembled, integrated, and tested at LASINE Laboratory, Kyutech, Japan. Students from five nations (Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh) collaborated to develop a number of CubeSats with coordinated ground coverage, named “Joint Global Multi-Nation BIRDS,”or abbreviated as “BIRDS.”To establish the downlink communication between satellite and Earth, an UHF patch antenna was utilized. Patch antennas offer an ideal solution to Cube satellite communication requirements due to their compact dimension and lightweight. However, the limited surface area available in CubeSats, conventional UHF and VHF patch antennas cannot be used. In this paper, a compact coaxial fed UHF (437.375 MHz) patch antenna system for 1U BIRDS-1 CubeSat (small satellite) is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a spiral meander line patch at the top side and partial ground plane another side of the substrate. A shorting pin has also been utilized to change the resonance to the required UHF band. For the intended 1U BIRDS-1 application, the goal is to mount on satellite body within a limited area of 1U BIRDS-1 satellite. The proposed antenna dimension (0.105λ×0.047λ×0.002λ at 437.375 MHz) and characteristics are compatible with any CubeSat standard structure. A prototype of the antenna was developed with a 1.57-mm-thick single layer Roger's substrate having a relative permittivity of 2.2, and measured results are consistent with simulation. The proposed UHF antenna has integrated and tested with 1U BIRDS-1 satellite. Finally, the satellite was successfully launched on June 3, 2017, from the John F. Kennedy Space Center, the USA at Low Earth Orbit for earth observations, message relay, space environment, and technology demonstration through the International Space Station.