Patch-excited cup elements for satellite-based mobile communication antennas

This paper reviews the antennas for mobile communication satellites at Saab Ericsson Space, including ARTEMIS, EMS, ICO and Thuraya. ARTEMIS is a geostationary technology demonstrator. It contains an L-band, 1.5/1.6 GHz, mobile communication payload with an array fed reflector antenna. The array is used both for receive and transmit. Similar 4-element arrays were delivered for EMS (European Mobile Service) on board the ITALSAT F2 satellite. The ICO satellite system consists of 12 satellites in MEO orbit (10400 km). Each satellite has one transmit array at 2.185 GHz, and one receive array at 2.0 GHz. Saab Ericsson Space has developed L-band radiators for geostationary applications in a technology similar to the one for ICO, and has delivered 256 radiators to Hughes Space and Communications Company for Thuraya.