Modular, Polarization-Preserving, 40 - 200 GHz Active, Electronically Steered Array (AESA) Antenna for Next-Generation WindSat

Teqnovations proposes to develop a modular, polarization-preserving 40 ? 200 GHz active, electronically steered array (AESA) antenna for the next generation of WindSat satellites. AESA technology will enable WindSat to customize its scan location and resolution on earth to precisely image wind vectors in critical geographic areas. The new WindSat?s higher frequencies will minimize interference from operations at lower frequencies.Modular, AESA tiles can be configured into planar, timed-array antennas or into the focal-plane arrays for use with a reflector. The scalable AESA tile design supports a wide range of antenna shapes and sizes, including a quasi-conformal arrays. Planar, ultra-wideband modular antenna (PUMA) technology will be developed to acquire polarimetric radiometer data in the 40 ? 200 GHz band. True-time-delay (TTD), RF liquid-crystal (LC) -based time delayers will form beams across the entire frequency band. Multiple antenna beams can be formed entirely in the RF domain, entirely in the digital domain, or in a hybrid of the two domains with sub arrays. The Phase I effort will focus on the PUMA array and antenna architecture. We will demonstrate a laboratory version of an AESA with four, dual (V + H) beams in Phase II leading to full antenna development in Phase III.