Development of an X-Band Reflectarray Antenna for Satellite Communications

Abstract

An X-band reflectarray antenna using 16\u2009×\u200912 double square ring elements for satellite communications is proposed in this paper. The feed is a 4\u2009×\u20093 elements microstrip patch array designed to create edge taper of approximately\u2009−\u200910 dB. A prototype with right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) is manufactured and tested, and the good agreements between simulations and measurements are demonstrated. The good performance is obtained with the aperture efficiency of 40.7% and the 3-dB gain bandwidth of about 10% which is beneficial to nanosatellites.