An antenna array has a plurality of square or rectangular antenna assemblies. Each assembly includes a first antenna assembly surface with a solar cell and a second antenna assembly with one or more antenna elements. The antenna assemblies are interconnected without gaps therebetween to form a first contiguous array surface comprised of the first antenna assembly surfaces and a second contiguous array surface comprised of the second antenna assembly surfaces. The antenna assemblies are connected together by mechanically stored-energy connectors, such as spring tape, that self-deploy the array in space without the use of electric energy.

Unit cells for phased array antennas are described. The unit cells include a plurality of dipole antennas that are used to form a phased array antenna. In particular, the unit cells that form the phased array antenna each include a plurality of dipole antennas formed on a surface of a substrate that are arranged to collectively form a triangle. A plurality of the unit cells may be linked together to form a triangular lattice array having almost any desired size and aperture, thereby allowing the RF engineer the freedom to achieve a wide variety of performance goals when designing a phased array antenna.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a UAV comprising a fuselage, a rotor, and a patch antenna element. The patch antenna element, which is provided from a patch antenna stack-up, is conformally disposed on an outer surface of the UAV's fuselage. The patch antenna comprises a first substrate, patch conductor, intermediate substrate, bottom substrate, and ground plane. The patch conductor is disposed on a top surface of the first substrate. A first surface of the intermediate substrate, which is a magneto-dielectric material, is disposed on a bottom surface of the first substrate. A top surface of the bottom substrate is disposed on a second surface of the intermediate substrate. A ground plane conductor is disposed on a bottom surface of the bottom substrate.

An aircraft includes a fuselage assembly including a first elongated structural member formed of electrically conductive material, at least one wing assembly including a second structural member formed of electrically conductive material, at least one horizontal stabilizer assembly including a third structural member formed of electrically conductive material, and at least one vertical stabilizer assembly including a fourth structural member formed of electrically conductive material. The wing assembly, the horizontal stabilizer, and the vertical stabilizer are each interconnected with the fuselage assembly in a flight configuration normal to the fuselage. The first, second, third and fourth structural members are electrically insulated from one another. An electronic communication device within the aircraft is configurable for selective electrical interconnection of two or more of said structural members to form a dipole or monopole type transmitting/receiving antenna.

A stripline conformal patch antenna is disclosed. The antenna comprises circuit board that includes a composite dielectric which has a bottom surface and a top surface. The bottom surface comprises a bottom surface conductive ground plane. The top surface comprises an array of a plurality of conductive antenna elements and a top surface conductive ground plane disposed around the plurality of antenna elements. The stripline conformal antenna also includes a conductor, extending from an antenna input through the composite dielectric, the conductor forming a stripline between the top surface conductive ground plane and the bottom surface conductive ground plane. A plurality of electrical vias extend through the composite dielectric, electrically shorting the bottom surface conductive ground plane and the top surface conductive ground plane.

An antenna assembly has a solar layer having one or more solar cells generating solar power, an antenna layer connected to the solar layer and having electronic components utilizing the solar power generated by the solar layer, and a thermal dissipation device dissipating heat locally at the antenna assembly. A large number of antenna assemblies are connected to form an antenna array in which heat is generated locally at each antenna assembly and dissipated locally at each antenna assembly.

A method and system are presented for managing operation of a conformal phased-array antenna. The method comprises: providing structural data about the antenna to be operated, said structural data comprising data indicative of a geometry of a curved radiating surface defined by an arrangement of N antenna elements of the phased array and data indicative of said arrangement of N antenna elements; utilizing input data indicative of a selected direction of antenna operation and processing said structural data about the antenna, said processing comprising determining operational data for each of the antenna elements defining a desired radiation pattern of the antenna for said selected direction, said operational data comprising amplitude, phase and polarization of radiation for each antenna element.

A broadband stacked multi-spiral antenna array comprising two or more spiral antennas with a dielectric layer having a generally uniform thickness positioned between each pair of stacked antennas, which are all center-fed and in-phase. The antenna array may be embedded in a non-conductive material, such as fiberglass embedded in a resin, a honeycomb core sandwich, or structural foam, that may be used to form a structural element of a mobile platform. The structural element may include a via providing a pathway for coaxial cables. If two structural elements are hatch covers on the port and the starboard sides of an aircraft, the use of a stacked multi-spiral antenna array in each structural element provides two roughly hemispherical coverage patterns which together provide an omni-directional coverage pattern. The stacked multi-spiral antenna array may also include a reflecting cavity placed at the bottom of one of the spiral antennas.

A system comprising a core, backskin, longitudinal repair core strip, splice clip, and a section of the backskin. The core comprises a plurality of longitudinal core strips and transverse core strips forming a plurality of core cells and the backskin comprises electronics connected to the core and providing electrical functionality enabling the plurality of core cells of the core to function as a phased array antenna aperture. The splice clip connected one of the plurality of longitudinal core strips to the longitudinal repair core strip and the section of the backskin is electrically connected and structurally bonded to the longitudinal repair core strip.

A satellite communication system for an aircraft communicates with multiple satellite constellations. The communication system includes a phased array antenna system and a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to communicate with a number of satellite constellations and configured to support simultaneously links to two or more constellations via the phased array antenna system. The satellite constellations can be micro-satellite, MEO, LEO, and GEO constellations.