A concept for high performance reflector-based Synthetic Aperture Radar

The success of current spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is boosting the performance requirement of next generation systems. In order to cope with the evolution of SAR the design of the new systems will need to meet higher requirements for spatial and radiometric resolution together with an increased availability. This tendency is recognized nearly independently of the application area and manifests itself through several study programs initiated by space agencies aiming at the design of future SAR systems. In this context the use of large reflectors combined with digital feed arrays for SAR is considered a possible alternative to planar array antennas. This paper suggests an X-band spaceborne SAR system utilizing a deployable reflector together with a digital feed array, analyzes its performance and highlights its advantages compared to other systems based on direct radiating arrays.