Novel high gain dual band single aperture array with large cross-polarized isolation at Ku-band for the TT&C system of a geostationary satellite

High Efficiency design of an array with a dual band patch using orthogonal modes is presented in the paper. TM
₀₁
and TM
₁₀
modes of a rectangular patch are used for dual band operation. Though the frequencies are far apart like 11.4 GHz for the downlink link and 13.2 GHz for the uplink, this configuration effectively keep the design narrow band resulting in design simplicity. It also provides very good cross-polarized (XP) isolation which is measured to be more than 33 dB. This enables frequency reuse using polarization diversity and allows dual band operation from a single aperture. The size of the array is 320 mm × 640 mm and provides about 31.1 dBi gain at downlink and 30.6 dBi gain at uplink band. A modular design approach is also presented that can be quickly adopted for an array of different size. The array has been used for the telemetry tracking and command (TT&C) operations of a geostationary satellite after it reaches the orbital slot and is stabilized.