Today we are witnessing a drastic change in Space industry in line with the New Space Paradigm. Main trends include the exploitation of small satellites and the ability to reconfigure the service over time. Active Antennas (AAs) represent the enabling element to achieve the mission flexibility. Differently from passive antennas, AAs allow to change the position, shape and power level of the beams. AAs have been used for example in Winds (Japan) and Quantum (Europe), which are middle-size platforms. Main resources are now focused in reducing the platform dimension, and the cost and complexity of AAs. In this context, the objectives of the activity are:
- conception of new, affordable AAs suited for small satellites (up to 1m3 and 150 kg payload).
- use of high frequency (Ka, Q/V) to improve accommodation and capacity.
- increase European competitiveness in this strategic market.
We propose to work on an innovative scientific concept: the ERSEs (Evanescent Radiating SEctions).
They consist on electrically-small radiating elements that integrate in a same component efficient radiation at high scanning angles, pass-band filtering and polarization conversion. Such multifunctionality will enable the reduction of the number of components within the AA front-end, thus reducing its profile and facilitating integration in small satellites. ERSEs are compatible with multibeam operation. 3D-printing is considered for the implementation of AMFANT concepts.
Consortium: IETR research laboratory, SWISSto12 and ESA-ESTEC have a strong collaboration tradition. The hosting laboratory is expert in mm-wave antenna design and measurement, and SWISSto12 is expert in multidisciplinary additive manufacturing of RF components. The partners have actively collaborated in the past years, obtaining promising preliminary results: the proof-of-concept of meandered waveguide clusters and a small breadboard of 3D-multi-beam lens.
