MOSAIC is focused on designing and manufacturing large sparse phased arrays for geostationary orbit satellites. Sparse arrays offer reduced power consumption due to their non-regular lattice arrangement, but this comes at the expense of increased complexity in the Beam-Forming Network (BFN) and incomplete aperture filling. The core concept of MOSAIC involves adopting a modular structure based on sub-arrays. This approach simplifies both the antenna architecture and manufacturing processes, as well as streamlining the design and implementation of a simplified BFN. The project includes manufacturing and testing one or more subarray breadboards to validate this cost-effective solution. The phased array antenna will be designed for small GEO satellites to Earth communications where there is a great interest, thanks to the reconfigurability and agile beam capability that phased array technology can enable in this applicative context. The targeted mission for this endeavour is the micro-geostationary satellite being developed by SWISSto12 with support from the European Space Agency (ESA).
The main challenges addressed in the project include:
- the identification and optimization of a highly modular array antenna architecture, aiming to simplify the beamforming network;
- the design of multi-sized tile-based subarray configurations with specific constraints, including a targeted reduction in the number of control points and a limited scan-loss;
- the design and implementation of a simplified BFN using advanced manufacturing techniques based on metal only radiating elements and passive components.
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