From modest multi beam towards VHTS: Feed system evolution at AIRBUS DS GmbH

To illuminate a certain footprint on Earth, a corresponding aperture distribution of the antenna in space needs to be generated. There are various possibilities to generate this distribution. A general classification is for example the distinction between direct radiation and radiation via reflecting apertures. The way in which the illumination is realised is directly linked to the complexity of the required feed system. Looking back, one can observe a change from small simple feed systems towards large complicated multifeed arrays, back to simple feeds again. Nowadays we again see the request for large feed systems and complex multifeed arrays. In this paper, we present a short history on antenna systems and the corresponding feed systems over the recent decades. An insight on current feed systems and future products is given.