Microstrip phased array for mobile satellite terminals

Antennas which are to act as terminal front-heads in mobile satellite (MSAT) communication systems should be easy to mount without deteriorating the movement parameters of the vehicles. To provide the user with voice services in the present generation of MSAT communication systems, the terminal should include an antenna of relatively high gain, at least 20 dB. For this reason, the terminal antenna on a vehicle must have a steerable beam and these demands seem to be met by technologically advanced microstrip phased arrays. The objective of our presentation is to describe a 32-element conformal microstrip phased array (MPA) developed for the needs of the L-band MSAT voice communication systems.