CubeSat Antenna Lab — Antennas-first (1U)

Antenna-first engineering lab for a 1U CubeSat. This repository builds a reproducible antenna subsystem baseline and keeps it honest with tests and CI: sizing → matching/VSWR → trade-offs → ICD → verification plan.

Baseline (v0.1.0): Deployable UHF quarter-wave monopole + matching + ICD + verification plan + CI.
Extension path: S-band microstrip patch (prepared as a modular profile).

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Why this matters

A CubeSat can be perfect on paper and still go silent in orbit if the antenna system is treated as a late integration detail. This project makes the antenna a first-class system: geometry and RF constraints shape the mission link budget, not the other way around.

Engineering signals

• Reproducibility: versioned configs drive calculations (configs/*.yaml).
• Traceability: assumptions → equations → outputs (no hidden magic numbers).
• Verification mindset: ICD + verification plan included (VNA/S11-ready).
• Determinism: tests validate sizing/matching sanity.
• CI discipline: lint + tests on every push/PR.

Quick start

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .[dev]

pytest -q
ruff check src tests
python -m antenna_lab.sweep --config configs/uhf_monopole.yaml --n 5

Integration with COMMS-first

This repo is designed to feed COMMS-first link budgets:

• tx_antenna_gain_dbi

• tx_line_loss_db

• misc_losses_db (deployment/polarization/implementation losses)

Regulatory & safety note

Frequencies and RF parameters may be placeholders. Real hardware work must comply with regulations and proper RF safety practices.