A seminar on "Planar Antennas for Small Satellites" was held at the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) on 24 December 2015. Professor Dr. Mohammad Tariqul Islam of Department of Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering of the National University of Malaysia was the resource person of the seminar.
In today's era of wireless communication, there has been increased need of high speed communication to achieve high quality transmission of voice, video or data. Satellite communication is one of the most important modes of wireless communication and has a significant role in the field of global telecommunications. There are approximately 2000 artificial satellites orbiting Earth and enable communication to and from multiple locations across the globe. One of the advanced satellite technologies is 'small satellites' which enables a number of tasks and experiments in space previously considered impossible or impractical. Small satellites came into existence because of the evolved miniaturization technologies. Besides the advantages of small satellite, it is a challenge to provide all necessary components within the physical limitations and restrictions. One of the main concerns for small satellite is to have adequate, efficient and economically viable antenna. Antennas are indispensable components in the design of satellite communication systems. The employment of lower frequency antenna (UHF/VHF) requires large antennas due to their large wavelength. Low speed communication, deployable monopole and 3D antennas are unsuitable for small satellite applications as they increase complexity of operation and the possibility of failure.