A Ka-Band Deployable Active Phased Array Transmitter Fabricated on 4-Layer Liquid Crystal Polymer Substrate for Small-Satellite Mount.

Lightweight and deployable phased arrays are important in Small-Satellite (Small-Sat) constellation systems to reduce price and increase link distance. This article proposes a Ka-band deployable active phased-array TX on a 4-layer liquid crystal polymer (LCP) board for a lightweight and high stowage rate solution to break through the trade-off between high antenna aperture size and small form factor in phased arrays. This article describes detailed designs of the phased array and its building blocks with the proposed 4-layer LCP substrate structure. Assembled with the beamformer ICs (BFIC), a Ka-band 8 x 4-element deployable active phased-array TX on the 4-layer LCP substrate is fabricated. The proposed deployable phased-array TX can steer the beam from -50. to 50.. The phased-array TX can drive 32-APSK DVBS2 signal with a -28.7 dB EVM as well, revealing that the deployable phased-array TX performs with high phased-array performance. Furthermore, the TX achieved the lightest and thinnest phased array with 0.96 kg/m(2) areal mass and 0.9 mm thickness. This groundbreaking research sets the stage for the realization of affordable and user-centric satellite communication (SATCOM) in low-earth orbit (LEO).