Design and Evaluation of a High Bandwidth Patch Antenna Array for X Band Space Applications

Kurzfassung

The use of high frequency data transmission in space applications, e.g. in the X band, offers a variety of advantages compared to the frequently used S band transmission. Not only the antenna size and weight is dramatically reduced, which is a very crucial point in space applications, but also the possible bandwidth is increased. This paper describes the theo-retical properties and the design process for a stacked patch array antenna in the frequency range between 7 and 8.5 GHz. Another advantage of a broadband antenna is that it can be used “off-the-shelf” for a variety of different applications, even for those with smaller needs regarding bandwidth.