Satellite ground stations with electronic beam steering

Abstract

In this work, we propose electronic beam steering via antenna arrays as a substitute for large parabolic antennas at satellite ground stations. We concentrate on two array geometries, faceted arrays and hemispherical arrays. A thorough analysis is carried out of the radiation characteristics, the array size, as well as the antenna element distribution and spacing. Moreover, in order to fulfill the requirement of the array design, that is, to achieve a higher gain at low elevation angles where the longer spacecraft to ground station distance leads to a larger range loss, we propose to adjust the number of active antenna elements, i.e., some antenna elements are turned on while others are turned off according to the required level of antenna gain. This also contributes to a concept of an optimized array design for this specific application. In the simulations, the array optimization for both array geometries is further investigated and realized with a realistic ephemeris incorporated. The numerical results support the proposal of replacing large reflector antennas by electronic beam steering via antenna arrays at satellite ground stations.