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A power-detecting, null-scanning, retrodirective antenna array for CubeSat platforms is presented. The system utilizes several hardware and software enhancements over previous retrodirective array architectures to address the size, weight, and power limitations of the CubeSat structure. Full-duplex retro-directivity is reported at 9.59 and 9.67 GHz for transmit and receive, respectively.

A liquid-metal reconfigurable Yagi-Uda monopole array is presented. The three-element array consists of driven and parasitic elements whose lengths can be tuned with pressure-driven liquid metal, resulting in an array in which directors can be transformed into reflectors, and in which elements can be tuned to different frequencies. The measured radiation patterns demonstrate single-axis beam steering at multiple operational frequencies from 1.95 to 4.11 GHz.

This paper described the miniaturization challenges in implementing an RDA architecture for a heavily resource-constrained CubeSat platform; by demonstrating this, a transition towards implementation on other highly mobile platforms can be accelerated. Addressing size, weight, and power in RDAs can be achieved through downsizing of circuitry through PCB design while reducing power consumption in each of the operating states, most importantly the prevalent static state.