Sunflower sparse array for space applications: From design to manufacturing

An innovative aperiodic planar array for satellite communications has been recently proposed. The configuration presented guarantees an almost rotationally symmetric pencil beam pattern and a very low sidelobe level. In order to improve the directivity, while keeping limited the number of controls, the available aperture is filled with different sized sub-arrays. In this work the ideal radiators, previously considered in the simulations, have been replaced by square tiles working in circular polarization. These tiles, composed by several patches, have been constructed, measured and used in the assemblying of the final array antenna.