Abstract
Space data services provide the largest market value to the global space industry. With the increasing use of small satellites that lower costs and lead times, the entrepreneurial space age has begun. However, advances in technology miniaturization are required to improve small satellite capabilities, which are limited by small volumes and low power consumption. This paper presents a deployable antenna for small satellites capable of achieving high-gain radiation performance despite being ultra-compact. The antenna is a helically curved boom that is deployed from a coil. The boom is an open slit tube. A ground plane comprised of four metallic booms supporting a sparse mesh is deployed by stored strain energy. A prototype of the antenna system has been built to test and validate the deployer mechanism, deployment strategy, and dimensional stability of the helical antenna and ground plane. The architecture builds on proven space technology, specifically the deployer mechanism of the InflateSail de-orbiting drag sail that successfully demonstrated low-Earth orbit space-debris removal in 2017. In this work, the deployer unrolls the helical boom whilst the sail itself is repurposed to boost the radiation performance of the helical antenna.