A Ka-Band 16-Element Deployable Active Phased Array Transmitter for Satellite Communication

This work presents a Ka-band 16-element deployable active phased array transmitter (TX) for satellite communication (SATCOM) in low earth orbit (LEO). To reduce the launch cost, but not giving up a larger antenna aperture, a deployable array antenna technique is adopted. The deployable array technique is implemented as an active phased array for further higher effective isotropically radiated power (EIRP), and beam synthesis. This work is scheduled to be launched in 2022 for space demonstration for high-speed Ka-band LEO SATCOM. The Ka-band deployable active phased array TX is implemented and evaluated with a single fold board assembly which consists of two sub-array boards. To achieve a smaller packable size, SMPS connectors and flexible printed cable (FPC) are used to connect two separated sub-arrays for RF signal and digital logic, respectively. Also, a calibration method is analyzed and tested. In the measurement, the EIRP of folded states of the deployable active phased array TX is improved by 10 dB at a fold angle of 35°.