Design and analysis of a Foldable Miniaturized Single Band Origami Antenna for Space Applications

Next-generation systems in airborne, spaceborne, and terrestrial applications are expected to greatly rely on deployable reconfigurable high-performance antenna systems. This research paper introduces a novel design concept for an origami antenna that is both foldable and physically reconfigurable. The antenna is optimized for use in the 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band, making it suitable for a range of industrial, scientific, and medical applications. The antenna is modeled and analyzed using the finite element method-based Ansys Electronics Desktop. To be deployed for foldable and conformal applications, the antenna is designed on the magic cube made of flexible material (Kapton polyimide) with ε
r
= 3.5, loss tangent = 0.002, and patch thickness of 0.12 mm. The radiator is designed on the folded magic cube resulted in a miniaturized volume of 30 × 30 × 30 mm
³
. The origami-based antenna proposed in this study boasts several key features, including compact size, flexibility, foldability, wide bandwidth, bi-directional radiation pattern, and a high gain value of 2.7 dBi. These unique features position the proposed antenna as a strong candidate for use in various applications such as space exploration, medical settings, military operations, and rescue missions.