KA-BANDSINGLE POLARIZATIONTRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ACTIVE ANTENNA FOR LOW EARTH ORBITSATELLITES (ARTES AT 5B.251) - EXPRO+ - RE-ISSUE

Objective: The objective of this activity is to design, manufacture and test a Ka-band single polarisation, combined transmit and receive, active antenna for low earth orbit satellites.Targeted Improvements: Reduction by a factor of 2 the numbers of on-board antenna.Description: TLow Earth Orbit (LEO) telecommunication satellites require compact and highly integrated antennas. These antennas require very large fields of view with a typical beam scanning range of up to 60 degrees from the boresight direction. Active direct radiating phased array antennas are attractive solutions for these satellites because they provide betterscanning capabilitiesas compared to phased arrays magnified by reflectors and are simpler in terms of accommodation. Current Ka-band active antennas aredesigned with separated transmit and receive functionalities as the large frequency band separation between the transmit and receive functions makes difficult to integrate them in the sameaperture. In addition, the small pitch required for such wide scan angles makes the accommodation of the radiating elements, associated beamforming network and active components challenging. Multi-layer printed technology represents a promising solution to achieve the integration of combined transmit and receive active antennas. Available now are technologies featuring 3-D integration capabilities with low losses and cross talk capable of realising micro-coax transmission lines or Air-Filled Substrate Integrated Waveguide with integrated active and passive component.This activity will develop aconcept of a combined transmit and receive active antenna with wide scanning range for applications in low earth orbit. This includes the developed thermal management and mechanical concept. Wideband beamforming and advanced manufacturing technologies will be investigated. Breadboarding shall be carried out to deriskthe most critical components (filtering function, radiating elements). A reduced antenna engineering model with critical functions comprising of at least one tile assembly of at least 10x10 radiating elementswill be manufactured and tested.