A space-fed phased array for surveillance from space

A space-fed radar antenna called a venetian blind is proposed for all-weather wide-area surveillance from space. Radar requirements for tasked and untasked operation are discussed, and the process of selecting the venetian blind concept, which can support both, is described. In its untasked form (essentially a space-fed passive lens), it achieves off-axis squint angles of many beamwidths with negligible performance degradation. It is inherently insensitive to mechanical distortion and is a first step in the evolution to the more complex tasked system antenna. The antenna lens consists of easily manufactured slats with microstrip dipole radiating elements and matching networks on a dielectric substrate. Phase control is achieved with low-loss delay lines in the passive lens or active transmit/receive modules if electronic scan is desired