Microstrip antennas for use onboard modern spacecrafts, and Report on SSETI-Express, ESEO satellites and ESMO Moon orbiter programs
Speaker: A/Prof. Pawel Kabacik, Wroclaw University of Technology
When: 2006-08-25 16:00:00
Venue: 78-420
Host: Prof. Marek Bialkowski (ITEE)/Prof David Thiel (IEEE)
Abstract:Applications of microstrip antennas in space are rare. The reasons
for this situation is a harsh space environment and severe loads
which antennas must sustain during launch and flight to the
orbit. Furthermore, antennas made of dielectrics are regarded as a
source of spacecraft contamination. Despite these shortfalls
microstrip antennas are welcome for use in small spacecrafts. This
is because they can fulfil the requirement of small size and low
profile. They can be used in Telemetry, Teleranging and Command
(TTC) communication. With respect to this application, they have to
feature an omnidirectional radiation pattern and a very good quality
of circular polarization. In order to achieve the required pattern
shape, three to six differently pointed patches have to be
employed. Another application area of microstrip technology onboard
spacecraft are conformal and multibeam antennas. In this seminar a
conformal dual-band antenna developed for the Columbus laboratory at
the International Space Station will be presented.
The second part of the seminar will cover the Presenter's
involvement in the Student Space Exploration and Technology
Initiative (SSETI) which is a Program sponsored by the European
Space Agency (ESA) (www.sset.org, www.sseti.pl, www.esa.int ). One
of SSETI objectives is an advancement of procedures needed to run
complex projects by geographically spread and culturally diverse
teams. Three 86 to 250 kg spacecraft are on the Program agenda:
SSETI-Express (placed into the 686 km Earth orbit on 27 October
2005, ESEO - European Student Earth Orbiter (2008) and ESMO -
European Student Moon Orbiter (2012). All spacecrafts use duplex
communication systems capable to transmit data with low and high
rate (153 kbps or 2Mbps max).
Biography:Pawel Kabacik received the M.Sc. degree (telecommunications, 1st
class honors) from Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland in
1986. He studied computer sciences at the same University for four
semesters. In 1989 he attended a postgraduate study at the Wroclaw
University of Technology and in 1996 he received the Ph.D. in
electrical engineering. A title of his doctoral thesis was Influence
of Beam Forming Network Errors on the Performance of Microstrip
Phased Arrays. In 2005, the State Board awarded him the Doctor of
Sciences degree following a habilitation colloquium and favorable
reviews of his monograph on Reliable evaluation and property
determination of modern-day advanced antennas.
In January 1987, he joined the Institute of Telecommunications and
Acoustics, Wroclaw University of Technology. He was a Visiting
Scholar to the Electromagnetics Institute, Technical University of
Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark (1991/1992) and to the University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (1997, 2001). He is a technical
expert of the European Commission in the field of mobile and
wireless communications. Since 2001 he has been a member of the
European COST 284 Project Innovative Antennas for Emerging
Terrestrial & Space-based Applications. He has held responsibility
for the project on conformal antennas - one of four Focus Areas of
the Project. Also, he was a member of the COST 260 Project on Smart
Antennas (1997-2001) and an expert of the earlier EU Project - COST
245 (1993-1997). In the COST 260 he led a group working on multiband
and conformal antennas.
He was a Principal Investigator to dozen projects funded by the
Polish National Research Council and industry. Recently, he has been
a Principal Investigator in research projects concerning advanced
antennas for mobile phones and base stations (contractor: Motorola
Advanced Technology Research Center, USA), near-field measuring
systems, spaceborne antennas and complete communication equipment
for use onboard Earth minisatellites and Moon orbiters. He is a
Principal Investigator to ARISS antennas onboard Columbus Laboratory
of the International Space Station which is coordinated by European
and US Space Agencies (ESA and NASA).
He received several national and international awards and
scholarships. In 2000 he co-received with Prof. Marek Bialkowski the
IEEE Harold A. Wheeler Honorable Mention Award for the best
application paper published in 1999 in IEEE Transactions on Antennas
and Propagation.
Type: IEEE MTT/AP Queensland Chapter
Contact:Prof. Marek Bialkowski (ITEE)/Prof David Thiel (IEEE), seminar host (meb@itee.uq.edu.au,d.thiel@griffith.edu.au)
or Guido Governatori (ITEE seminar co-ordinator)
(guido@itee.uq.edu.au)