Truss-type deployable reflector antenna systems for synthetic aperture radar mounted on a small spacecraft

摘要

The paper describes the principles of constructing antennas for the Earth remote sensing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems mounted on the small spacecrafts and based on the truss-type deployable reflector antennas developed by JSC “OKB MEI”. The basis of reflectors is a rigid truss framework. Metallic mesh grid playing the role of reflecting surface is attached to this framework. The possibility of providing electronic beam scanning with a small step for ScanSAR mode is realized by the usage of complex feed, consisting of an array of antennas, microwave switches and power divider. Two S-band SAR deployable reflector systems designed for Russian and Chinese small spacecrafts are presented.