A Large Aperture Parabolic Cylinder Deployable Mesh Reflector Antenna for Next-Generation Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar

The tensegrity synthetic aperture radar (TenSAR) antenna architecture is a unique next-generation high-aspect-ratio deployable reflector that promises to enable surface deformation and change (SDC) monitoring with low-Earth orbit (LEO) small satellites. We present the development of a novel C-band parabolic cylinder deployable mesh reflector with a 7
$\mathrm{m}\times 1.5\ \mathrm{m}$
rectangular aperture as the first TenSAR antenna demonstration. Unique stowage and deployment mechanisms are implemented for the first time for this mesh deployable reflector. A lightweight
$1\times 32$
element linear patch array feed based on honeycomb substrate is designed to test the performance of the reflector. The measured reflector antenna achieved a measured gain of 42.06 dB at 5.357 GHz, with half-power beamwidths of
$0.52^\circ$
and
$2.35^\circ$
in E- and H-plane.