Multi-channel Feedarray Reflector Antenna Based Radar Concept for HRWS SAR Imaging

Large deployable reflector based multi-channel antenna systems are a key component of next generation SAR missions as they allow implementing multi-beam imaging capabilities and provide an efficient way to overcome the classical SAR resolution-coverage trade-off, covering wide swaths with high azimuth resolution. The presented work shows the design of a multichannel L-band SAR system and antenna architecture based on different feeders concepts and capable to map 400 km ground swath with 5 meter spatial resolution in dual polarization. The paper describes a preliminary design and architecture of the SAR system and the antenna where different design aspects including beamforming concepts and feedarray implementation techniques have been identified and assessed in view of achieving the required SAR performances while reducing the overall complexity of the solution.