Abstract
This paper shows that it is possible to exploit the modulated metasurface concept to control the unwanted coupling between antennas that are installed on the same satellite. The metasurface is combined with a Multi-Layer thermal Insulation blanket to reduce its specular reflection by spreading the energy incoherently in the surrounding space. In the design, sub-wavelength radiating elements printed on thin substrate have been used to make the metasurface response azimuthally independent, and to keep the weight of blanket down. The comparison between simulations and measurements confirms the validity of the idea.
Highlights
Multi-layer thermal Insulation (MLI) blankets are usually employed in communication satellites and other spacecrafts for shielding electrical and electronic componentry from the space environment through which the spacecraft travels
A few authors have proposed to print sub-wavelength metallic elements on an extra dielectric layer on top of a coupling surface to reduce its radar cross section (RCS)[8,9,10,11,12]. They suggest distributing, in a periodic lattice, sub-wavelength elements whose dimensions are chosen at random in a specific range. This has been done with the false convincement that each radiating element introduces a phase variation between the incident and the scattered field equal to the one calculated with the local periodicity approximation[13]
A strategy for distributing sub-wavelength elements along the metasurface is proposed. It differs from what suggested in the previous papers since it enforces that the phase delay, that each element provides along the metasurface, changes in a continuous manner, and does not vary faster than 360° if one covers a distance of one free space wavelength
Summary
Multi-layer thermal Insulation (MLI) blankets are usually employed in communication satellites and other spacecrafts for shielding electrical and electronic componentry from the space environment through which the spacecraft travels. A few authors have proposed to print sub-wavelength metallic elements on an extra dielectric layer on top of a coupling surface to reduce its radar cross section (RCS)[8,9,10,11,12] They suggest distributing, in a periodic lattice, sub-wavelength elements whose dimensions are chosen at random in a specific range. This has been done with the false convincement that each radiating element introduces a phase variation between the incident and the scattered field equal to the one calculated with the local periodicity approximation[13]. It differs from what suggested in the previous papers since it enforces that the phase delay, that each element provides along the metasurface, changes in a continuous manner, and does not vary faster than 360° if one covers a distance of one free space wavelength
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