3D Printed Electronics Antenna for Balloon Test Flight

A TDRSS antenna (2.0 – 2.3GHz) will be printed onto a substrate and attached to the payload of a balloon mission in September 2024. These balloon missions typically use 10 or more TDRSS antennas as well as antennas in other frequency ranges with various RF circuitry components. Antenna performance will be tailored to precise frequency and gain requirements prior to launch and will be retrieved after the mission and re-tested for frequency precision and gain to determine deterioration of antenna performance in atmospheric balloon conditions. The retrieved antenna will also be inspected in the Parts Analysis lab for signs of material deterioration or degradation and to determine the root cause and analyze the contributing factors and processes.

3D Printing antennas and entire RF circuits provide several advantages, including:

• reducing parasitic losses commonly induced from wire bonding, and all connection points between the various components in an RF circuit
• enabling the placement of small sensors and antennas at locations that would be difficult or problematic to implement a hard-wired cable connection
  • (this would be extremely useful for small payloads, where space is limited and whose mission involves communicating either to multiple spacecraft and/or to a main spacecraft)
• allows for increased innovation in antenna design, as antennas can be printed directly onto curved surfaces, opening up curved surfaces to RF designs

This mission will expose the antenna to the elements of a 5 hour balloon mission, allowing us to asses how well its RF properties hold up before and after flight as well as analyzing how the printed antenna material is affected by the conditions of a balloon flight.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.