Small Spacecraft Technology
Integrated Solar-Panel Antenna Array for CubeSats (ISAAC)
Project Introduction
This project will develop a new subsystem technology for CubeSats. Integrated Solar-Panel Antenna Array for CubeSats (ISAAC) is an efficient, compact, high gain, low power consumption, lightweight, small volume, X-band antenna array with circularly-polarized radiation to support high data rate downlink. The antenna design is optically transparent (i.e. will not compete for valuable surface real estate), modular, and is independent from the solar cells.
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Anticipated Benefits
Today's CubeSat system uses either UHF or S-band communication systems with only up to 3 Mbps downlink. With the proposed X- band antenna, the downlink bit rate will be enhanced to 50 Mbps with reasonable modulation and coding. Due to its high performance, ISAAC will play a key role in the link budget and relaxes dependency on complex ground stations, which will consequently reduce the cost of science mission.
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Project Closeout – Executive Summary
ISAAC successfully completed antenna design, inkjet printing of the antenna on glass, assembling 6U solar panel, and performing all performance tests on antennas and solar panel in the lab environment. Test results confirm a 95% transparency reflectarray with more than 22 dB gain.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah State University | Lead Organization | Academic | Logan, UT |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, MD |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
-
Utah
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Organization:
- Utah State University
Responsible Program:
- Small Spacecraft Technology
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- Reyhan Baktur
Project Duration
Start: Oct 2015
End: Oct 2017
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 5 |
| Current: | 5 |
| Estimated End: | 5 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 5 Communications, Navigation, and Orbital Debris Tracking and Characterization Systems
- TA 5.2 Radio Frequency Communications
- TA 5.2.6 Antennas
Target Destination
Earth