Design and implementation of a rectenna for satellite application

This paper addresses the microwave energy harvesting for powering wireless sensors on board of geostationary satellites. The electromagnetic environment existing on such satellites is first investigated and experimental results in K-band demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of such energy harvesting in satellite applications for powering autonomous wireless sensors. Experimental results demonstrates that a DC voltage up to 4.5 V and a DC power up to 2.25 mW can be harvested on board of geostationary satellites by using a simple rectenna topology.