Design and verification of ARGOS Tx/Rx space segment antenna

An innovative Tx/Rx on-board antenna configuration suitable for ARGOS satellite applications has been studied, manufactured and tested. The antenna operates in right hand circular polarization at two narrow band frequencies centred around 402 MHz and 466 MHz and has an iso-flux type radiation pattern in the angular range from 0° to 63°. The electrical performance, thermal and mechanical issues and the minimization of the overall mass and envelope have been the design drivers in the study. Several antenna solutions ranging from different helix type antenna implementations to planar and 3D array constellations have been investigated and trade-off in the initial study phase. The final antenna structure selected for further investigation, elegant bread boarding and test is based on an axial dual element array configuration providing the desired iso-flux shaped pattern with minimum mass and overall size. The antenna is shown in Fig. 1 during testing in the SATIMO SG-64 multiprobe spherical range. This paper describes the pertinent phases of the study: Considerations on the antenna design trade-off activity, selection of the candidate antenna technology, manufacturing, tuning and final testing.