Ka-Band active sparse arrays for SATCOM applications

Due to the continuous growth of satellite communications and the nearly saturation of the Ku band, Ka band has started to be used for broadband communications. For the new generation of spaceborne antennas operating in Ka band, satellite communication operators require some in-orbit features as the flexibility and the re-configurability. The most suitable antenna configuration candidate to provide these characteristics is the Active Direct Radiating Array. This paper describes innovative solutions that, by the use of sparse/thinned lattices, allows to minimize the radiating elements number reducing the complexity for the cooling system integration (e.g. heat-pipes) and beam former implementation.