European Space Agency engineers have developed a revolutionary antenna technology that could dramatically reduce the complexity, weight and power consumption of next-generation communication systems. The innovation leverages the natural symmetry of antenna arrays to eliminate half the components typically needed in beamforming systems.
Tested in ESA’s echo-free chamber that simulates the vacuum of space, the patented concept maintains full functionality while requiring significantly less hardware—a crucial advantage for satellites where every gram and watt matters.
“By changing the signal’s phase and amplitude for each individual element in an array, we can steer the resulting signal in a desired direction. We don’t do this by physically tilting the antenna, as we used to do, but instead by adjusting the electrical signals we feed into individual antenna elements,” explains Hugo Debergé, ESA’s microwave engineer behind the development.
Modern antenna systems increasingly rely on “antenna arrays”—collections of smaller antennas working together to steer radio waves electronically rather than through mechanical movement. These arrays can contain hundreds or thousands of individual elements, each traditionally requiring separate control components.
The breakthrough combines two ESA-patented concepts. The first treats symmetrically positioned antenna elements as pairs that can be fed with complementary signals rather than independently controlled. Building on this foundation, the team’s second innovation dramatically simplifies the electrical circuitry needed to generate these signals.
“The second innovation, patented by ESA in 2023, focuses on the way the electrical signals for antenna couples are created by an electrical circuitry. We came up with a way to simplify the electrical circuit within the system so that it allows us to remove half the components and still maintain the same functionality,” Debergé adds.
To verify the concept works as intended, engineers tested the prototype in the Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone (HERTZ)—an anechoic chamber at ESA’s technical center in the Netherlands. With walls covered in pyramid-shaped foam absorbers that prevent signal reflections, the facility creates an environment mimicking the endless void of space.
The technology has applications ranging from satellite communications and deep space exploration to terrestrial systems like mobile networks.
“The concept demonstrated here in HERTZ is very convincing, but this is just the beginning,” says Vaclav Valenta, ESA microwave engineer and co-inventor. “Now, this patented beamforming concept and associated experimental results are available to industries in ESA member states for space use, free of charge.”
ESA is now preparing a dedicated R&D program to further mature the technology through its Open Space Innovation Platform, aiming to eventually integrate the solution into a single microchip for both space and ground applications.
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