Paper
12 April 2021 Systems integration and environmental testing activities performed on the Space Exploration Synthetic Aperture Radar (SESAR)
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Digital Beamforming has gained significant importance in radar applications in the past years. It helps improve radar performance while reducing mass and power. Improving these figures becomes even more important for space applications. The Space Exploration Synthetic Aperture Radar (SESAR) is a novel P-band (70 cm wavelength) radar instrument developed for planetary applications that will enable surface and near-subsurface measurements of Solar System planetary bodies. The radar will measure full polarimetry at meter-scale resolution, and perform beam steering through programmable digital beamforming architecture. The data obtained with SESAR will provide key information on buried ice and water signatures that can facilitate the design of future human and robotic exploration missions. In this paper we describe SESAR’s large antenna array, the sub-systems integration process, and the different environmental testing activities performed to the overall system in order to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for its future inclusion in a space-proven system.
© (2021) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Iban Ibanez Domenech, Rafael Rincon, Lynn Carter, Martin Perrine, Daniel Lu, Roger Banting, Cornelis du Toit, Michael Choi, Peter Steigner, Kenneth Segal, Babak Farrokh, William Alberding, Tasneem Khan, and George Nehmetallah "Systems integration and environmental testing activities performed on the Space Exploration Synthetic Aperture Radar (SESAR)", Proc. SPIE 11755, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications XIV, 117550D (12 April 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2587354
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KEYWORDS
Synthetic aperture radar

Radar

System integration

Aerospace engineering

Antennas

Beam steering

Electronics

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