Truss-type deployable reflector antenna systems for synthetic aperture radar mounted on a small spacecraft

The paper describes the principles of constructing antennas for the Earth remote sensing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems mounted on the small spacecrafts and based on the truss-type deployable reflector antennas developed by JSC “OKB MEI”. The basis of reflectors is a rigid truss framework. Metallic mesh grid playing the role of reflecting surface is attached to this framework. The possibility of providing electronic beam scanning with a small step for ScanSAR mode is realized by the usage of complex feed, consisting of an array of antennas, microwave switches and power divider. Two S-band SAR deployable reflector systems designed for Russian and Chinese small spacecrafts are presented.