SATELLITE ANTENNAS

Communication satellites have evolved from a radio relay in space to encompass other applications such as processing and meteorology. The demand for high capacity communication satellites has led in the past two decades to the development of multibeam antennas, a landmark in satellite antenna technology. This paper classifies satellite antennas into three categories according to function: communication; tracking, telemetry, and command (TT&C); and special satellite antennas. While the application of shaped beam antennas has been developed to its fullest extent as in INTELSAT VI and VII, an active monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) phased array has come to play an important role in future satellite antenna technology. Examples of each state-of-the-art satellite antenna technology and the process of space qualification are presented briefly in this paper.