ILKA - a lightweight KU-band antenna solution for mobile satellite communication: experimental evaluation

With interest growing for small and low-cost user terminals for the consumer market, innovative and lightweight manufacturing processes for antenna systems are needed more than ever. In this paper, we introduce a novel design and lightweight manufacturing process for very-small-aperture terminals fitting backpack requirements. The prototype antenna system was characterized in a controlled laboratory environment to validate its surface accuracy and RF performance. Additionally, an end-to-end over-the-air field test, utilizing real GEO satellite capacity, was conducted to assess its performance in a real-world deployment. The results demonstrate that the prototype closely replicates the performance of existing commercial off-the-shelf user terminal solutions.