Circularly polarised multiple beam antenna for satellite applications

This paper presents a novel circularly polarised Ku-band multiple beam antenna based on a quasi-optical beamformer and a wideband reflection polarizer conformally deployed along a cylindrical parabolic reflector for satellite applications. By virtue of the wide scanning capability of the beamformer and the wide band and angularly stable response of the curved polarising reflector we demonstrate multibeam capability in circular polarization up to ±18° for a wide Ku band (10–14.5 GHz) with axial ratio below 2 dB. Manufacturing and testing methods are discussed. A breadboard of the multibeam reflector antenna has been fabricated and tested demonstrating very good performance that matches the simulated results.