Development of antenna deployment circuit for nano-satellites

Nano Satellites generally weighing between 1 and 15 kg, serving the purpose of space research are popularly standardized as CubeSats. The CubeSat standard has made it really feasible and easy for students from various universities to develop their own Nano-satellites with their very own payloads. Antennas are critical components in the onboard communication system of satellites, the Nano Satellites usually communicate in the Amateur Frequency Bands; these bands exist from 144 MHz to 146 MHz in VHF and from 434 MHz to 438 MHz in the UHF range. Designing antennas at these frequencies typically ends up being larger in size than the actual CubeSat itself. Thus generally the antennas for a Nano Satellite are made flexible enough to be folded in order to comply with the CubeSat size standards. Once the satellite is ejected into the orbit from the deployer module, an automated signal is used to trigger a circuit that initiates a series of processes to deploy the folded antennas back into their original shape. This paper deals about the design and development of a highly efficient, smart and reliable control circuit prototype called the Antenna Deployment Circuit. This developed prototype is tested and the results are summarized in the paper.