TICRA to design reflectarray-based synthetic aperture radar
TICRA has, as a sub-contractor to Airbus, been selected by ESA to develop a high-resolution and wide-swath synthetic aperture radar (SAR) based on multiple reflectarray apertures. This instrument will be designed for Earth observation purposes in Ka band.
The use of flat reflectarray panels has the advantage that relatively high antenna gain can be achieved, while it is also possible to tailor the reflectarray elements to yield different high- and low-resolution modes with different beamwidths in the azimuth and elevation planes, properties that are critical for the application. In addition, flat panels, as compared to traditional parabolic reflectors, ease stowing of the relatively large antenna into existing launchers.
TICRA is responsible for all radio frequency related tasks, including design and analysis of the reflectarray panels and associated feed horns as well as correlation between breadboard measurements and simulations.
The project is under ESA’s Technology Research Programme and is expected to be completed in 2021. For more information about the project, please contact Project Manager Jakob Rosenkrantz de Lasson (jrdl@ticra.com) or Product Lead for Periodic Structures Min Zhou (mz@ticra.com).
About ESA’s Technology Research Programme
ESA’s Basic Technology Research Programme (TRP) enables researchers to explore new ideas from the very earliest stages of a project. TRP is the only ESA technology programme that supports all Agency directorates across the entire spectrum of technical disciplines, providing the technological nucleus for most future developments.