Project overview
EPSRC PhD research Project.
Aperture synthesis has been of great interest to satellite systems, since it has enabled spacecraft such as SMOS launched in 2009, to accommodate large virtual apertures that would have been impossible to fit into launch vehicles. The larger the aperture, the narrower the beam and the better resolution an imaging radar can achieve. Narrower beams also allow longer transmission ranges. For wireless power transmission from a geostationary orbit, it is proposed that apertures of 1km in diameter or more are required.
The project aims to study the feasibility of a phased array transmitter system, where the transmitter elements are carried aboard a swarm of free-flying satellites, phasing themselves through wireless communication and synchronization.
This is done by an on-paper feasibility study of such a system, constrained by technology currently available, followed by a suitable scaled demonstration, and a performance prediction of large-scale systems.
Aperture synthesis has been of great interest to satellite systems, since it has enabled spacecraft such as SMOS launched in 2009, to accommodate large virtual apertures that would have been impossible to fit into launch vehicles. The larger the aperture, the narrower the beam and the better resolution an imaging radar can achieve. Narrower beams also allow longer transmission ranges. For wireless power transmission from a geostationary orbit, it is proposed that apertures of 1km in diameter or more are required.
The project aims to study the feasibility of a phased array transmitter system, where the transmitter elements are carried aboard a swarm of free-flying satellites, phasing themselves through wireless communication and synchronization.
This is done by an on-paper feasibility study of such a system, constrained by technology currently available, followed by a suitable scaled demonstration, and a performance prediction of large-scale systems.
Research outputs
2018, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 56(6), 3487-3498
Type: article