Antenna analysis for space applications with the electromagnetic field solver FEKO

In this paper some typical antennas for space applications are analyzed by using the computational electromagnetic software FEKO, as released in Suite 7.0. First, an iterative MLFMM/PO hybrid method with bi-directional coupling between the two methods is introduced, very suitable for extremely large reflector antennas illuminated by a smaller (but also electrically large) and complex feed, drastically reducing the memory and run-times used. An antenna placement example on a generic satellite is also discussed, where different full wave and high frequency asymptotic methods are compared, such as MLFMM and PO or UTD. Finally, a more realistic application is shown, to calculate the influence of a patch array antenna on the Iridium satellite.