Space Antenna Handbook

Chapter 6

Testing of Antennas for Space

Jerzy Lemanczyk¹, Hans Juergen Steiner², and Quiterio Garcia³

¹ ESTEC–ESA, The Netherlands

² Astrium GmbH, Germany

³ EADS CASA Espacio, Spain

6.1 Introduction

For space antenna applications, the antenna engineer will not only be required to design an antenna to rigorous performance requirements, but also be faced with other very important issues. These include:

• Fitting the antenna into a confined 3D envelope which is sometimes smaller than the antenna itself. Hence the term deployable antennas and the need to test antenna deployment from its stowed launch configuration.
• It is essential that the antenna and its deployment mechanisms, if present, survive the heavy launch loads to perform in orbit.
• In-orbit performance can be compromised through thermal effects caused by large temperature variations or extreme cold for deep space antennas where RF performance testing is mainly done at ambient temperatures.
• Material selection and thermal shields and blankets are needed to maintain thermal stability. Low Earth orbit satellites have the added potential problem caused by the presence of atmospheric oxygen in the orbital path.

Therefore, in the context of space antenna applications, many disciplines are required and need to be put to the test before launch.

On satellites and on the antennas they employ, mechanical and material issues can become crucially important design drivers in addition to the required electrical performance. In this chapter, ...