Wednesday, October 9, 2024, Morning.
Innovative Antenna Designs for Next Generation CubeSats: Conceptualization to Mission Realization
Yahya Rahmat-Samii
Distinguished Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
rahmat@ee.ucla.edu
Recent advancements in CubeSats’ utilization for communications, remote sensing, and planetary missions have revolutionized the satellite industry. Leveraging their compact size and cost-effectiveness has enabled missions previously deemed unfeasible with traditional satellites. Among various design components, the development of antenna systems capable of meeting the data-rate and spatial resolution demands for future space missions has captured significant attention. The interplay between mechanical complexity and RF performance presents remarkable opportunities for antenna engineers to explore innovative and unconventional designs. While earlier missions predominantly relied on low-gain antennas due to their straightforward mechanical integration, modern CubeSats necessitate high-gain antennas that can be compactly stowed during launch and reliably deployed in space.
A primary objective of this plenary talk is to address the challenges and opportunities that CubeSats present to antenna engineers seeking new conceptualizations and developments. The talk will spotlight antenna concepts such as symmetric and offset mesh deployable reflector antennas, 3D-printed lens antennas, and deployable reflectarrays, intended for missions encompassing remote sensing, deep space exploration, and the Internet of Space (IoS). Furthermore, it will highlight the design, fundamental features, numerical characterizations, prototyping, and measurement verifications of these antenna systems. As the vision of affordable space missions and global connectivity becomes reality, the talk will also explore future prospects and the evolving landscape of antenna engineering in anticipation of increasingly sophisticated space missions.
Yahya Rahmat-Samii is a Distinguished Professor and holder of the Northrop-Grumman Chair in electromagnetics at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. He is the recipient of the 2011 IEEE Electromagnetics Field Award and formerly served as Chairman of the ECE Department at UCLA and as a Senior Research Scientist at Caltech/NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Rahmat-Samii served as the President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) in 1995 and as President of the United States National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) from 2009 to 2011. He has also served as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, delivering lectures internationally. He has authored or coauthored over 1100 technical journal and conference papers, along with more than 40 book chapters and seven books. Rahmat-Samii’s work has been featured on the cover of over 20 IEEE publications. His research encompasses various areas of modern electromagnetics and antennas, ranging from small medical antennas to large space deployable antennas. His interests include electromagnetics, antennas, measurement and diagnostic techniques, numerical and asymptotic methods, satellite and personal communications, human/antenna interactions and medical applications, meta-materials and periodic structures, as well as nature-inspired optimization algorithms.
Dr. Rahmat-Samii is a fellow of IEEE, AMTA, ACES, EMA, and URSI. He received the Henry Booker Award from URSI in 1984, which is given triennially to the most outstanding young radio scientist in North America. Additionally, he was awarded the Best Application Paper Prize (Wheeler Award) of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation in 1992 and 1995, the University of Illinois ECE Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, and the AMTA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2000. In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctorate Causa from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Further accolades include the 2002 Technical Excellence Award from JPL, the 2005 URSI Booker Gold Medal presented at the URSI General Assembly, the 2007 IEEE Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award of the IEEE AP-S. He also received the 2010 UCLA School of Engineering Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2011 campus-wide UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Rahmat-Samii was honored with the Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from The Engineers Council in 2015, the John Kraus Antenna Award of the IEEE AP-S, and the NASA Group Achievement Award in 2016. In 2016, he received the ACES Computational Electromagnetics Award and the IEEE AP-S S. A. Schelkunoff Best Transactions Prize Paper Award. He was awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2019, which is given annually to distinguished U.S. citizens who exemplify a life dedicated to community service. These individuals preserve and celebrate the history, traditions, and values of their ancestry while embodying the values of the American way of life and striving to create a better world. In 2020, he received the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Best Paper Award, followed by the 2022 IEEE AP-S Harrington-Mittra Award in Computational Electromagnetics. In 2023, he was honored with the National Academy of Sciences USNC-URSI Outstanding Educator Award and the IEEE AP-S Outstanding Service Award. He designed the original logo for the IEEE AP-S, displayed on all IEEE AP-S publications. In 2023, he was designated as “Legend of Electromagnetics” by the IEEE AP-S, with his interview available at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO2-nrC2rCM].