Spot beam antennas for mobile satcom payloads

Spotbeam payload technology is making its debut for mobile applications with the Inmarsat third generation series of spacecraft for a global system and the MSAT system for a regional mission. These introductions in the mid 1990´s have followed many years of studies and hardware developments, especially by European industry working in collaboration with the European Space Agency. This paper reviews some of the key developments and discusses the requirements for the future as typified by the Inmarsat P system