Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance

Bazilah Baharom; Nourah Al-Khubrani; Anis Fariza Md Pazil

doi:10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance

Bazilah Baharom
, Nourah Al-Khubrani
, Anis Fariza Md Pazil

Interdisciplinary Research Center for Aviation and Space Exploration

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

This paper investigates how antenna size and orbital pass geometry such as elevation angle influence highdata-rate X-band communication performance for CubeSat downlinks using Ansys STK 13 simulations. A 525 km Sunsynchronous orbit is analyzed over a seven-day period with 4 to 5 passes per day at ground station in Saudi Arabia with Xband data rates 150Mbps. Three antenna diameters (1.2 m, 2.4 m, and 3.7 m) are evaluated using key metrics including C/No, Eb/N₀, and BER. Results show that link performance strongly depends on elevation angle and antenna size, with optimal conditions occurring near mid-pass. The 3.7m ground station antenna with 47.5dBi gain significantly improves link performance and ensure reliable high-data-rate communication.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology
Subtitle of host publication	Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)	9798319513663
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038
State	Published - 2026
Event	2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology, MJWRT 2026 - Sabah, Malaysia Duration: 4 Aug 2026 → 6 Aug 2026

Publication series

Name	2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026

Conference

Conference	2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology, MJWRT 2026
Country/Territory	Malaysia
City	Sabah
Period	4/08/26 → 6/08/26

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 IEEE.

Keywords

antenna
CubeSat
data rate
downlink
elevation angle
Ground station
Link Budget
satellite

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Computer Networks and Communications

Access to Document

10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

Cite this

Baharom, B., Al-Khubrani, N., & Pazil, A. F. M. (2026). Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance. In 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026 (2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

Baharom, Bazilah ; Al-Khubrani, Nourah ; Pazil, Anis Fariza Md. / Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance. 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2026. (2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026).

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title = "Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance",

abstract = "This paper investigates how antenna size and orbital pass geometry such as elevation angle influence highdata-rate X-band communication performance for CubeSat downlinks using Ansys STK 13 simulations. A 525 km Sunsynchronous orbit is analyzed over a seven-day period with 4 to 5 passes per day at ground station in Saudi Arabia with Xband data rates 150Mbps. Three antenna diameters (1.2 m, 2.4 m, and 3.7 m) are evaluated using key metrics including C/No, Eb/N0, and BER. Results show that link performance strongly depends on elevation angle and antenna size, with optimal conditions occurring near mid-pass. The 3.7m ground station antenna with 47.5dBi gain significantly improves link performance and ensure reliable high-data-rate communication.",

keywords = "antenna, CubeSat, data rate, downlink, elevation angle, Ground station, Link Budget, satellite",

author = "Bazilah Baharom and Nourah Al-Khubrani and Pazil, \{Anis Fariza Md\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 IEEE.; 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology, MJWRT 2026 ; Conference date: 04-08-2026 Through 06-08-2026",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038",

language = "English",

series = "2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",

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Baharom, B, Al-Khubrani, N & Pazil, AFM 2026, Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance. in 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026. 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology, MJWRT 2026, Sabah, Malaysia, 4/08/26. https://doi.org/10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance. / Baharom, Bazilah; Al-Khubrani, Nourah; Pazil, Anis Fariza Md.
2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2026. (2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance

AU - Baharom, Bazilah

AU - Al-Khubrani, Nourah

AU - Pazil, Anis Fariza Md

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - This paper investigates how antenna size and orbital pass geometry such as elevation angle influence highdata-rate X-band communication performance for CubeSat downlinks using Ansys STK 13 simulations. A 525 km Sunsynchronous orbit is analyzed over a seven-day period with 4 to 5 passes per day at ground station in Saudi Arabia with Xband data rates 150Mbps. Three antenna diameters (1.2 m, 2.4 m, and 3.7 m) are evaluated using key metrics including C/No, Eb/N0, and BER. Results show that link performance strongly depends on elevation angle and antenna size, with optimal conditions occurring near mid-pass. The 3.7m ground station antenna with 47.5dBi gain significantly improves link performance and ensure reliable high-data-rate communication.

AB - This paper investigates how antenna size and orbital pass geometry such as elevation angle influence highdata-rate X-band communication performance for CubeSat downlinks using Ansys STK 13 simulations. A 525 km Sunsynchronous orbit is analyzed over a seven-day period with 4 to 5 passes per day at ground station in Saudi Arabia with Xband data rates 150Mbps. Three antenna diameters (1.2 m, 2.4 m, and 3.7 m) are evaluated using key metrics including C/No, Eb/N0, and BER. Results show that link performance strongly depends on elevation angle and antenna size, with optimal conditions occurring near mid-pass. The 3.7m ground station antenna with 47.5dBi gain significantly improves link performance and ensure reliable high-data-rate communication.

KW - antenna

KW - CubeSat

KW - data rate

KW - downlink

KW - elevation angle

KW - Ground station

KW - Link Budget

KW - satellite

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DO - 10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105051487795

T3 - 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026

BT - 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

T2 - 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology, MJWRT 2026

Y2 - 4 August 2026 through 6 August 2026

ER -

Baharom B, Al-Khubrani N, Pazil AFM. Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance. In 2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2026. (2026 IEEE Malaysia-Japan Workshop on Radio Technology: Transforming Connectivity with Intelligent Wireless Innovation, MJWRT 2026). doi: 10.1109/MJWR70084.2026.11678038

Impact of Ground Station Antenna Diameter and Elevation Angle on X-Band Cubesat Downlink Performance

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this