A mesh zooming reflector antenna

Satellite antennas are required to illuminate a specific region on Earth efficiently. For satellites on highly elliptical orbits, the size of coverage region changes as the satellites circulate their orbits. This requires the shape of antenna beam to change accordingly. A reconfigurable mesh reflector, consisting of an elastic metallic mesh and a number of actuators can meet the zooming requirements by changing its surface shape. In this case a control mechanism for the surface shape is needed instead of beamforming networks as in array antennas. The mesh reflector however exhibits pillowing which gives rise to grating lobes and causes about a 0.5 dB reduction in gain. The reconfigurable mesh reflector is used to provide beam zooming for satellite in elliptical orbits. The fixed boundary problem is overcome by using a reconfigurable polygon to support the mesh reflector