Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2015
This paper presents a tradeoff between isoflux pattern quality and X-band antenna compactness for nanosatellite applications. Having an isoflux radiation and a circular polarization (CP) generally causes a large antenna size which is incompatible for these applications. A new design of an antenna is done with the following maximum antenna dimensions: a diameter of 90 mm and a height of 20 mm above the nanosatellite platform. The isoflux pattern is slightly degraded while a good CP and realized gain are kept. The structure is a compact choke horn. It presents an axial ratio lower than 3 dB and a RG close to 0 dB over a 400 MHz bandwidth (8.0–8.4 GHz). It has been realized and successfully measured.