A spherical phased array antenna with unequal amplitude excitation for satellite application

In this paper, an interesting discussion on the spherical phased array antenna (SPAA) having unequal amplitude distribution is provided. The possibility of using two different amplitude excitations and their effect on the radiation characteristics are discussed in this paper. The results are compared with the case where all the elements are fed with equal amplitude and having an equal total RF radiated power. An SPAA is realized at X-Band to provide an Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of 23 dBW and tested for its performance. The antenna is meeting all the mission requirements. The antenna is used for one of the low earth orbiting satellite of ISRO.