Abstract
In this paper, an optimized circular polarized patch antenna is proposed for 1U CubeSat communication system. This antenna consists of a square slotted square patch with full ground plane. The proposed antenna is designed considering small satellite compatibility such as lightweight, small size, single feeding etc. The antenna operates at 2.4 GHz with 80 MHz impedance bandwidth (2.35 GHz to 2.43 GHz) and 3dB axial beamwidth of 135 at resonate frequency. The Roger's 5880 substrate material has been adopted considering the harsh environment of the space. Moreover, antenna reflection coefficient and axial ratio of the designed antenna has been investigated for both simulation and measurement with 1U CubeSat body structure. The antenna achieved realized gain of 7.48 dB with 1U small satellite structure. The contribution of this research is to design this small footprint antenna system for S-band small satellite communication.