Feed development for multispot beam antennas

The demand for high throughput applications of satellites continues. Large multiple spot beam applications such as broadband via satellite in Ka-band or in-flight entertainment in Ku-band are very fast growing markets. Since adequate feed chains play a major role for the used antennas, one of our main tasks is, to develop and provide such feeds. While often it is sufficient to adapt existing concepts to the new requirements, sometimes it is necessary to develop new products, or use alternative designs and new manufacturing technologies. This paper presents the development of a new 38mm Ka-band polariser, providing a 50% reduction of the footprint compared to the predecessor product. In Ku-band, additive layer manufacturing is identified as possible candidate to save mass and cost for multi beam applications.