Low-cost phased array antenna for satellite communications on mobile earth stations

Future US Navy ships are expected to use multifunction, low radar cross section (RCS) phased array antennas for satellite communications. In this paper, we present a unique phased array concept in which a single planar array antenna (on a mobile earth station) can be used to communicate simultaneously with several geostationary (GEO) satellites by generating multiple independent beams. This array will have full electronic beam scanning capability in the azimuth direction with fixed beam positions in the orthogonal (elevation) plane using one or at most two hard-wired squints without the need for redesigning the antenna for different earth station locations. The proposed technique will reduce the cost and complexity of phased array antennas designed for mobile earth stations.