Space Communication

The European Space Agency was one of the front runners in developing the Geostationary Communications Satellite expertise among European companies, exemplified by the Olympus satellite in the 1980s.

At that time TICRA won the first contracts from ESA on the development of software for optimising contoured beam satellite antennas. These antennas were designed to illuminate a specified region on the Earth and the first concept consisted of an array of feeds illuminating a parabolic reflector. In this concept the contoured beam is generated by adjusting the power and phase of the array elements. In addition to European companies INTELSAT used the software.

Since then the contoured beam antenna design capability has been extended to shaped surface reflector antennas. In this concept a single feed illuminates a reflector, the surface profile of which is adjusted for optimum illumination of the specified Earth region.

Photo: Courtesy of ESA