3BRAD POLAR Development of a new generation of Tri-Band (S/X/K) Radomes for Ground Stations at Polar Regions Environments

This document describes the activities carried out by VEGA COMPOSITES and HITEC LUXEMBOURG within the framework of an ESA contract aiming at the design, prototyping and manufacturing of demonstrative frames and components of large radomes for the coverage of polar ground stations of next-generation weather and satellite space missions (S/X/K bands) with applications in remote sensing and TLC communications. The paper addresses in particular the approach at industrial research and engineering level followed by the team in design and development of the project, specifically for: identification of materials for radome sandwich-panel structures, RF characterization of materials and stratifications, definition of the whole radome geometry/configuration, characterization of the panel-to-panel joints, identification and preliminary design of automatic de-icing system, FEA for validation of mechanical performances vs harsh environmental conditions, EM modelization for validation the RF performances, manufacturing technologies assessment for Large Domes supplying, criteria and trade-off for final configurations definition.