A Multi-faceted Reflectarray onboard Aerospace Vehicle with Enhanced Bandwidth

Abstract

This paper presents an electrically large multi-faceted aperture that can be folded and deployed onboard an aerospace vehicle. Following a single-offset configuration, the aperture comprises five low-profile panels assembled edge-to-edge, arranged following a parabolic curvature. The entire antenna structure is designed to generate a directive beam in Ka-band, working in dual-linear polarization. An electromagnetic characterization of this topology has been carried out, compared the results to the performance of an equivalent single facet reflector and a multi-faceted reflectarray composed of nine panels. The five panel multi-faceted structure features a directive pattern stable in-band, and a 1dB-gain bandwidth of 10%, significantly higher than in an equivalent single facet aperture. Compared with the nine-panel structure, it exhibits lower gain bandwidth but higher peak gain, similar beamwidth in-band and easier integrability with the vehicle platform.