RADARSAT-2 Antenna

The design of RADARSAT-2, scheduled for launch in 2007, has been driven by the needs of the global Earth observation markets. The RADARSAT-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) antenna is a state-of-the-art active array designed, built and tested by MDA in its Montreal facilities. The large 15 m times 1.4 m antenna is comprised of 512 subarrays that are each connected to a Transmit/Receive (T/R) module. High performance electronics provide power and control to the T/R modules. These units along with Radio Frequency (RF) power divider networks and harnesses are mounted on four integrated aluminum panels that are deployed on a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) extendable support structure. The lower level units were built and tested before being integrated to the antenna. The antenna went through acceptance testing that included environmental and near field range tests. Good correlation was obtained between the predicted and the measured performances. The antenna met all expectations and at the time of writing this paper, has been integrated to the spacecraft.