Corner Reflectors as Elements Passive Communication Satellites

Orbiting passive communication satellites cannot exploit radar target structures, for the reflected energy must cover the entire globe. Each orbital altitude dictates its maximum tolerable gain. Structures with large plane surfaces have too narrow beams and intolerable scintillations. Only spheres studded with several thousand retrodirective elements of wide scan angle eliminate scintillations and are tolerable in weight. Investigations of corner reflectors as retrodirective elements revealed, only small (3λ) three dimensional right angle corners are feasible. The overall efficiency in a spherical arrangement is limited by sidescattering to about 12 db.