Satellite communications systems are rapidly evolving driven by the need to improve the offers to the customer, mainly through user experience and connection capacity. Moreover, the current frequency bands offer limited overall capacity. To widen the capacity possibilities, higher frequency bands are presently explored as their use can widen the network configuration possibilities and increase the communication capacity. In particular, Viasat is exploring the use of E band (71-86 GHz) for future satellite systems. Given the elevated frequency, there are major technological challenges, which require new antenna solutions providing high performance at a reasonable cost. In this activity, we will explore the opportunities given by glide-symmetric periodic structures to prove the possibility of producing an efficient and robust beam forming network (BFN) in E band for future integration into an antenna array solution aimed at the ground segment. It is anticipated that manufacturing and assembly constraints could be relaxed using this innovative technique, resulting in significant cost savings implementing a design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) approach. Additionally, the feasibility of manufacturing the E band BFN with RF performance would de-risk the further development of E band terminal for satellite communications. This proposal for the development is led by KTH (Sweden), which is pioneering the research on glide symmetries with the support and recommendation of Viasat (Switzerland), a world-leading company in satellite communications who initiated the need for this activity as it would open new activities in future terminal developments. This novel technology (glide symmetry) has demonstrated to be a robust and cost-effective technique in millimeter wave applications; however, it was never employed for arrays in E band for satellite communications with high directivity.
