Design of large space based radar for multimode surveillance

Space based radars have been under consideration for several years [Skolnik, MI, 1997], and have only been made commercially available for synthetic aperture radar modes. This is due to the limited availability of space based microwave technologies and the high cost of manufacturing large space systems. Several technology programs have promised significant advances in affordable phased array radar designs. However, the design of true multimode radars require aperture sizes and average power significantly larger than previously considered. This paper outlines a design approach that anticipates future developments of ultra lightweight antenna manufacturing techniques. Based on a notional design, the performance predictions and challenges to radar signal processing is presented.