Monopole-like meander microstrip antenna onboard microsatellite for telecommand applications

Indonesia requires microsatellites for surveillance & remote sensing applications including disaster management such as forest fire, volcanic activity, flood, or even for communication purpose. The first generation Indonesia microsatellite, called LAPAN-A1 (LAPAN-TUBSAT), has been launched on 10^th January 2007 as the starting point to further develop microsatellite technology in Indonesia. The satellite is operated in 400 MHz UHF band. Due to its lightweight and small size requirement, a microsatellite requires an antenna for communication systems (e.g. payload data and data telemetry & telecommand) that suits to the satellite size. In LAPAN-A1, its telecommand system uses a wire antenna that works at the center frequency 437,325 MHz, hence, it requires a relatively large space when its launching process. In order to have more compact UHF antenna for next generation of microsatellite, in this paper we propose a novel small antenna design for telemetry and telecommand applications onboard microsatellite in the UHF band 430-450. The proposed antenna is monopole-like meander-type microstrip antenna, which operates in linear polarization and omnidirectional pattern. We conduct numerical simulation on single antenna design, which able to resonate at 461-481 MHz. The gain of 2.6 dBi is obtained for a single construction. Further, two similar antennas are placed independently onboard on satellite body on -X directed panel (first antenna) and +Y directed panel (second antenna). The simulated results show both antennas are able to work in 428-468 MHz, with the gain of 2.9 dBi & 2.43 dBi for the first and the second antenna, respectively.