Design of a High-Performance Radome for Satellite Communication Phased Array Antennas

A high-performance radome applicable for satellite communication phased array antenna is proposed in this paper. The proposed antenna radome has an ultralow profile and a symmetric aerodynamic structure, which satisfies the demand of low air resistance for bidirectional high-speed carrier. Based on the beam-scanning requirement of the adopted phased array antenna, a sandwich radome structure with variable thickness of the core layer is designed for the realization of high transmission rate at large incident angles. An engineering prototype at Ku satellite communication band was co-designed, manufactured and measured. Over the 2.5GHz operating bandwidth from 10.5GHz to 13.0GHz, the measured transmission rate was maintained above 80% through an incident angle range of 0∼ 70°.