A light-weight tunable liquid crystal phase shifter for an efficient phased array antenna

In this paper, we present the design and recent measurements of a satellite Ka-band phase shifter based on Liquid Crystal (LC) technology in hollow waveguide topology. The phase shifter is intended to be fully integrated into each branch of a hollow waveguide feeding network for a compact, light-weight TX/RX phased array antenna. Mounted on a geostationary satellite, this antenna can be used to establish the link between a low earth orbit satellite and a ground station.