ThinKom Solutions has developed a new family of phased-array antennas for deployment on satellites and other space vehicles. The antennas, which are based on ThinKom’s Variable Inclination Continuous Transverse Stub (VICTS ) technology, are multi-frequency, full-duplex antennas for operation on geostationary and non-geostationary satellites using the C-, X-, Ku-, Ka-, Q-, V-, E-, and W-bands. They can provide steerable high-capacity inter-satellite links as well as space-to-earth and earth-to-space feeder and user links.
The ThinKom payload antennas are compact and lightweight, with a 30-cm diameter antenna weighing less than 5 kg. They can be nested for multi-beam applications without the blockages that can occur with multiple parabolic dish arrays. They can also support digital beam forming within regional user beams.
The space-payload VICTS antennas comprise an aluminum structure and space-compatible components to function reliably under extreme conditions of radiation, shock, vibration, and temperature. The compact, highly reliable conformal arrays require no post-launch deployment mechanisms, eliminating the added weight and complexity of traditional satellite antenna systems.
The high-efficiency VICTS antenna architecture enables a smaller mounting size and volume for a given level of performance, as well as lower inertia than traditional satellite designs. The result is extremely low power consumption, a critical requirement for space applications.
Other key features include 80° scan angle coverage; wide instantaneous channel bandwidth of up to 2 GHz; polarization diversity; low sidelobe emissions; and continuous, jitterless high-agility scanning.
According to Bill Milroy, CTO and chairman of ThinKom Solutions, “Our space-payload antennas hit the ‘sweet spot’ between bulkier and heavier gimbaled dish antennas, with their deployment and kinematic complexities, and the less efficient and power-hungry electronically steered arrays (ESAs).” Milroy added, “A 30-cm VICTS antenna requires a small fraction of the power and area required for a comparably performing ESA.”
