Development of nanosatellite - RF power combiner for onboard antennas in nanosatellite

Abstract

With the success of the CubeSat, Nanyang Technological University was motivated to develop a combination of nano-satellite and pico-satellite. These two satellites will be launched in a vehicle which uses the standardized P-POD launcher. Eventually, these two satellites will separate in space and will communicate with each other as well as the surrounding satellites. The nano-satellite is also tasked to carry a payload which is a camera to take shots on our beautiful planet, Earth.

The objective of this report is to design a microstrip Radio frequency (RF) power combiner for the development of the nano-satellite.

The microstrip RF power combiner is a small, lightweight and easily integrated circuit that will be placed into the nano-satellite. Furthermore, it can be easily fabricated according to the author’s design. Due to the lack of space on the nano-satellite, several designs have been introduced to reduce the size of the microstrip RF power combiner, increase its return loss and minimize insertion loss.

For this project, FR4 material was used for fabricating the prototypes. Wilkinson power divider concept was used in this project as it is one of the most prevalent, efficient designs and most important of all, it can function as a RF power combiner.

The microstrip RF power combiner was designed and simulated using Advanced System Design (ADS) Momentum and fabricated in the laboratory with the milling machine. The RF power combiner was tested by the network analyzer to obtain its S parameter. Pairing it together with GPS (Global Positioning System) antennas, anechoic chamber test and GPS signalling test were performed.