Today’s bulky satellite dishes and ground terminals could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a replaced by a new type of flat antenna being developed by researchers in Belfast.
Dr Neil Buchanan with a prototype of the new antenna. Photo: Queen's University Belfast
The team at Queen’s University are working on a project for the European Space Agency to develop a completely self-contained solid-state self-steering antenna. It will be much lighter and less power hungry than current alternatives.
The lead engineer on the project is Dr Neil Buchanan, who recently received the space agency’s Best Young Engineer award for his work in the field.
Dr Neil Buchanan with a prototype of the new antenna. Photo: Queen’s University Belfast
“The work is especially exciting because it has involved taking a piece of pure university research and bringing it into the real world,” he says. “Self-tracking antennas offer the prospect of much simpler and more cost-effective alternatives to other current approaches. That, we believe, makes them ideally suited to a variety of end uses.
“For example, satellite broadband aircraft antennas are extremely complex. They need to be linked into the plane’s onboard navigation system in order to find the satellite. In trains and road vehicles, they consume a lot of power and they require mechanical parts for tracking purposes.”
“We believe that across these applications the solution we are currently working on could reduce power consumption by a factor of 10, weight by a factor of five and cost by a factor of four.”
Learn more
Read some key facts about Ireland’s role in the space industry
Find out about ESERO Ireland, the European Space Education Resource Office. Our new joint initiative with the European Space Agency aims to provide space-themed resources to teachers and raise awareness about space as a theme for inspiring an interest in STEM subjects.
