Wideband microstrip patch radiators for a future synthetic aperture radar

There is a constant drive to achieve better performance from antennas designed to work as part of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The beam steering requirements remain sensibly unaltered but greater fractional bandwidth becomes essential and dual-linear polarization is likely to become a desirable feature. Antennas that can meet these anticipated future needs are planar phased arrays and potential designs have been reported in the open literature. This paper describes some of the continuing work performed at EADS Astrium Ltd to investigate antennas that meet the technical needs of a future SAR.