Novel Isoflux Antenna Alternative for LEO Satellites Downlink

Author

Del Río, J. E Fernández ; Nubla, A. ; Bustamante, L. ; Vila, F. ; Klooster, K.van´t ; Frandsen, A.

Author_Institution

RYMSA. Space & Defense Division, Ctra. Campo Real, Km 2,100. 28500 Arganda del Rey, Madrid (Spain). Tel: +34 91 876 0707, Fax: +34 91 876 0708, e-mail: space.eng@rymsa.com

Volume

3

fYear

1999

fDate

Oct. 1999

Firstpage

154

Lastpage

157

Abstract

Antennas with a shaped pattern are attractive for Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) Satellites. The use of a strong shaping assists to maintain a nearly constant power density level on the ground during the passage of the satellite over the groundstation. A lightweight but very solid antenna has been developed by RYMSA (Spain) to provide such characteristics. The antenna exploits a balanced combination of a biconical horn antenna and a hybrid mode feed and its performances are a result of dedicated theoretical and experimental investigations. The antenna configuration as such is of interest for various applications. It has been selected as data downlink antenna for the polar orbiting satellites of the METOP program.

Keywords

Antenna feeds; Antenna theory; Dipole antennas; Directive antennas; Downlink; Horn antennas; Low earth orbit satellites; Polarization; Reflector antennas; Satellite antennas;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference, 1999. 29th European

Conference_Location

Munich, Germany

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EUMA.1999.338551

Filename

4139574