This paper presents a novel digital beamforming (DBF) space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for future space-borne earth observation. The objective of the DBF-SAR system is to realize a next-generation space-borne SAR system for Europe, which has low cost, light weight, low power consumption, dual-band (X/Ka) dual-polarized operation and a compact size compatible with future small/micro satellites platforms. The concept and designs of the DBF multi-static SAR system are discussed first, followed by the designs of sub-systems such as digital beamforming networks (DBFN), MMIC and antennas are presented. Then some simulated and measured results of each sub-system are shown. The proposed SAR system has low cost and compact size and is promising for future SAR applications.
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