Title of Presentation: An Electronically Scanning Large Aperture Membrane Array

Primary (Corresponding) Author: Alina Moussessian

Organization of Primary Author: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Abstract: Large aperture phased-arrays with aperture sizes of 400m2 and more will enable repeat-pass L-band interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) missions to be flown at higher altitudes, i.e. Medium or Geosynchronous Earth Orbits (MEO or GEO), thereby offering greatly improved Earth coverage for shorter interferometric repeat times. If standard technologies are employed, these very large apertures demand impossibly high mass and large packaging volumes which makes them impossible. This paper discusses the progress in the development of a lightweight membrane-based phased array radar for SAR applications including the development of a 8x16 element prototype array, Transmit/Receive electronics and integration of the electronics with the array.