A multibeam active antenna for an European contiguous coverage at Ku-band

Abstract

An active multibeam antenna has been studied with the aim of providing multispot European coverage at Ku-band according to ESA study requirements. The coverage characteristics have been optimized to meet the required directivity, and a compromise has been reached between antenna and payload complexity. The impact of the active concept on system performance and reliability has been evaluated, considering both uniform and unbalanced traffic distribution among the coverage beams. The possible adoption of frequency reuse has also been investigated