Solar Paddle Antenna Mounted on Pico-Satellite "KUKAI" for Amateur Radio Communication

This paper describes solar paddle antenna proposed in the development of Kagawa Satellite “KUKAI.” KUKAI is a mother-daughter pico-satellite for technical verification of a tethered space robot. The mother and the daughter satellites communicate respectively with the ground station by amateur radio frequencies. For the purpose of simple deployment system on orbit and antenna directivity suitable for KUKAI, antenna, which communicates with a ground station, mounted at the edge of a solar paddle is employed. After complete antenna adjustment on the ground, KUKAI was launched on 23 January 2009 by the H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. The solar paddles were successfully deployed, and communication through the solar paddle antenna was succeeded.