Wideband S-Band Wrap Around Microstrip Antenna
Project Description
This project aims to use innovative antenna design techniques to dramatically improve the bandwidth of currently used S-band wrap-around antennas employed by sounding rockets. Present S-Band wrap around antennas have a bandwidth limited to approximately 40 MHz, and there are four separate models at 2215, 2235, 2251, and 2279 MHz needed to cover the band. We will design, fabricate, test, and deliver a prototype S-Band (2200 – 2290 MHz) wrap around antenna with the target bandwidth of 100 MHz, which will cover the whole band with one antenna. A new wideband design, which will consolidate multiple antenna models into one model that can be built in-house, will significantly reduce costs and improve program efficiencies.
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Anticipated Benefits
The primary payoff to science is the increase in the downlink data rate for instruments flown on NASA sounding rockets at a reduced cost to the program. With twenty plus missions per year, reducing the number of required antennas from four to one results in a significant reduction in cost to the program. Replacing multiple lower data rate links with a single higher data rate link provides two benefits. First, the science data return is increased by using frequency space previously used for guard bands when multiple downlinks are utilized. Second, the overall telemetry system complexity, cost, and required SWaP is reduced by flying fewer transmitters, encoders, cables, etc.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Wallops Flight Facility
(WFF)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Facility | Wallops Island, Virginia |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
-
Virginia
