A comparison between reflector and active array satellite antennas with contour beams

Offset reflector antennas with a shaped surface fed by a single horn, or a paraboloidal surface fed by a multihorn array, are used in geosynchronous communication satellite payloads to generate contoured patterns for maximum EIRP and G/T performance over the coverage region. It is envisioned that in the future reflector antennas could be replaced by active array antennas offering on-board operational reconfigurability. In the paper the predicted directivity and efficiency (required power) of transmit contour-beam reflector antennas and active arrays are compared.