Enabling Very Low Cost SmallSat Communications: A Simple 3D Printed S-Band Dielectric Resonator Antenna

Small Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft are steadily improving their performance due to advanced 21st century hardwareproduction methods. Additive manufacturing (AM), otherwise known as 3D printing, is contributing to the accelerateddevelopment of critical space hardware, including telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) equipment such as antennas.With this technology, structures can be built cost-efficiently using a single device, reducing extensive post-processing whileoffering increased design freedom for near-net-shaped parts. This study reveals an S-band rectangular Dielectric ResonatorAntenna (rDRA) operating at a resonant frequency of 2.54 GHz that can be integrated into a 1U cubesat footprint. The antennais built using a conductive TiO2-based composite dielectric filament shaped with a filament extrusion 3D printing process. Theradio frequency (RF) properties of the feedstock are characterized to design the rDRA, becoming inputs to build and testthe functional prototype. Validation results with over-the-air measurements are provided, with the rDRA exhibiting a gain, afractional bandwidth, and a beamwidth of 6.7 dBi, 18.84%, and 82.3◦, respectively. This work unlocks the potential to developvery simple and cost-effective S-band antennas for use in small satellites that can compete with their commercial counterparts,further offering new paths to manufacture antennas in situ, in space.