Lower Ultra-High Frequency Non-Deployable Omnidirectional Antenna for Nanosatellite Communication System
Touhidul Alam,
Muntasir M. Sheikh,
Rabah W. Aldhaheri,
Mandeep Singh Jit Singh,
Mengu Cho,
Mohammad Tariqul Islam,
Khalid H. Alharbi,
Md. Shabiul Islam
Affiliations
Touhidul Alam
Pusat Sains Ankasa (ANGKASA), Institut Perubahan Iklim, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Muntasir M. Sheikh
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia
Rabah W. Aldhaheri
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia
Mandeep Singh Jit Singh
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Mengu Cho
Laboratory of Lean Satellite Enterprises and In-Orbit Experiments, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka 804-8550, Japan
Mohammad Tariqul Islam
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Khalid H. Alharbi
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia
Md. Shabiul Islam
Faculty of Engineering (FOE), Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, Cyberjaya 63100, Selangor, Malaysia
The concept of the nanosatellite comes into play in launching miniaturized versions of satellites or regarding payloads with minimizing cost and building time. The economic affordability of nanosatellites has been promoted with a view to launching various nanosatellite missions. The communication system is one of the most important aspects of a satellite. The antenna is a key element for establishing a communication link between the earth and the nanosatellite. The antenna and solar panel of the nanosatellite are two of the most vital components that profoundly impact antenna type and design. This paper proposes a non-deployable lower ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna, strategically mounted on the satellite body, to address the constraints of deployment complexity and solar panel integration. The antenna was fabricated and performances measured with a 1U nanosatellite structure, which achieved resonance frequency at 401 MHz frequency bands with 0.672 dBi realized gain. The overall antenna size is 0.13λ × 0.13λ × 0.006λ. The major challenges addressed by the proposed antenna are to design a nanosatellite-compatible lower UHF antenna and to ensure solar irradiance into the solar panel to minimize input power scarcity.
