Design and evaluation of a shaped reflector and 4-port CP feed for dual band contoured beam satellite antenna applications

Results of a comprehensive design and evaluation effort are presented for a shaped reflector and 4-port CP feed for a dual band contoured beam satellite antenna. The design meets stringent specifications on the gain slope within coverage contour and the isolation in the closely spaced neighbouring contours. Optimization of the reflector shape, the feed illumination function, the feed network to cater Tx/Rx CP operation have been addressed based on precision EM modelling to ascertain implementation of the design with least uncertainty. The feed system is undergoing fabrication and component level evaluations. The measured results on flight representative integrated hardware is presented and compared with predicted characteristics.