Design and Implementation of Ground Station for LEO Satellite

Abstract

This paper presents the design, fabrication, andevaluation of a Very High Frequency (VHF) Eggbeaterantenna operating at 145 MHz for Low Earth Orbit (LEO)satellite communication. The antenna consists of twoperpendicular loop elements fed with a 90° phase shift toachieve right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) andnear-omnidirectional radiation, eliminating the need formechanical tracking. The antenna was designed analyticallyand optimized using computer simulation technology (CST)Studio Suite to improve impedance matching and radiationperformance. A prototype was fabricated and tested, achievinga VSWR of 1.517 at the operating frequency 145 MHz withgood impedance matching. Radiation pattern measurementsshowed stable horizontal coverage and the experimental resultsagreed well with theoretical free-space path loss calculations.The proposed antenna provides a simple, low-cost, andeffective solution for Automatic Packet Reporting System(APRS) reception and educational LEO satellite groundstations.