Design and Qualification of Ku-Band Radiating Chains for Receive Active Array Antenna of Flexible Telecommunication Satellites

Abstract

Space Engineering recently developed enhanced passive components as key elements for its telecom Ku-band antenna product line, tailored to reconfigurable payloads. This paper describes the design and qualification of a dual linear polarization Ku-Band radiating chain, developed for the DRA receive (Rx) antenna embarked on the Eutelsat Quantum satellite. The feed chain covers the entire Ku-band frequency range allocated for Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) providing receive functionality and embedding sharp rejection features over the adjacent transmit band. Details of the feed chain design and an overview of RF and environmental qualification test results are presented.