thermal sensitivity analysis of a telemetry antenna in sub-orbital spaceflights

A thermal sensitivity analysis is performed for an inverted-f antenna (ifa) at the worst-case thermal condition (reentry phase) of a typical sub-orbital sounding-rocket spaceflight. electromagnetic simulations show that a 300 celsius change in the ifa temperature, mainly caused by the aerodynamic heating, increases the reflected power by 1% and decreases the antenna gain by 2.5%. the results show that the degradation of antenna performance and the telemetry link quality is negligible. therefore, the ifa is a good antenna choice for similar sounding rockets from the thermal reliability point of view.