S.V. Polenga, Yu.P. Salomatov, E.A. Litinskaya, R.M. Krilov

Reflectarrays are suitable alternative to reflector antennas for VSAT application. The reflectarrays can be constructed as foldable structures. Their flat shape allows easy transportation and assembly. The foldable reflectarray development results for bidirectional satellite communication networks are considered. The antenna is designed to operate in receive 10.70-12.75 GHz and transmit 14.0-14.5 GHz frequency bands. Reception and transmission occur at orthogonal linear polarizations. To construct an array with two phase patterns in the orthogonal polarizations two-layer rectangular microstrip cell was used. The phase variation range of this cell exceeds 360°. The industrial corrugated horn was used as array feeder. This horn has equal beamwidths in both planes which are stable in the whole operating band. The offset configuration was used for reflectarray construction. Array dimensions were 1240 x 1290 mm. Focal length was 1050 mm. Array aperture has octagonal shape. The topology segments with Illuminating level below than -10 dB were cut off. The array aperture is divided into 4 subarrays. The topology was etched on foiled polyester by photolithography method. Prototype measurements were carried out in anechoic chamber by near-field scanning method. The operating frequency band of reflectarray is not sufficient to cover whole low frequency range. Frequency range can be adjusted by shifting feed horn position. Comparative test of reflectarray was made using real satellite signal. Signal/noise ratio provided by reflectarray was 0.8 dB worth then that of parabolic mirror at 11.5 GHz. Studies have shown the possibility to create dual-band reflectarray with the polarization decoupling for use in satellite communications. Antenna design demonstrates the flexibility of solutions based on reflectarray technology.