Ku-Band Metal-Only Flat Metasurface Radar Antenna for Small Platforms

Metal-only metasurface antennas for small platforms are under development at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to provide high gain, low-profile, low-cost and harsh environment survivable solutions for small airborne and spaceborne platforms. A metal-only Ku-band co-located metasurface antenna pair has been developed for a UA V snow radar with approximately 30 dBi gain, -14 dB reflection coefficient and 60 dB port-to-port isolation over 15–16 GHz band. The antenna has been manufactured and tested, and is currently being used for the field measurements.