Far field analysis of wrinkles in space membrane antennas

Large deployable antennas (LDA) are an upcoming technique used as space borne reflector antennas. Low stow volume and mass are one of the key advantages allowing big reflector diameters to be launched on conventional vehicles. A primary concern in reflector antenna building is surface accuracy, especially at high operating frequencies. Conventional LDA use sophisticated high cost mechanics to deploy a mesh structure with low surface error. But deployable structures are also used as a drag sail to deorbit satellites when their life time is exceeded. The surface structure of such a drag sail is of subordinate interest, leading to low cost deployment mechanics, which are easy to build. The idea described in this paper is to use the drag sail deployment technique and use the expanded membrane surface as a reflector antenna. The effects of the surface errors, which are inevitably introduced by the mechanics, are studied to help to determine a break-even point between antenna performance loss and cost reduction compared to a conventional LDA. Possible applications are small satellites like CubeSats, which could enhance their communication link budget by deploying a medium performance but low cost LDA.