Ka-Band Parabolic Deployable Antenna (KaPDA)

摘要

CubeSats provide the ability to conduct relatively inexpensive space missions. Over the past several years, technology and launch opportunities for CubeSats have exploded, enabling a wide variety of missions. However, as instruments become more complex and CubeSats travel deeper into space, data communication rates become an issue as highlighted by a recent NASA centennial challenge proposal. A Ka-band high-gain antenna would provide a ≈100× increase of data communication rates over an S-band high-gain antenna, and a ≈10,000× increase over an X-band patch antenna of the same input power, enabling high-rate data communication from deep space or the use of data-intensive instruments from low Earth orbit (LEO).