The Alphasat-XL antenna feed array

The next generation of mobile satellite communication systems requires a high degree of flexibility. Large multibeam antennas providing hundreds of beams are used to address this need. A large deployable reflector fed by a high performance feed array provides several technical advantages and has been selected for the Alphasat-XL program. This paper describes the Alphasat-XL primary feed array under development at MDA Corporation. The state-of-the-art high power feed design and its main performance characteristics are presented. The challenging PIM and multipactor requirements and the unique MDA design addressing them are also discussed.