An Improved Lightweight Satellite Communications Antenna (ILSA) was charact
erized by simulation and measurement. The measured gain is within 1.1 dB of
the simulated gain and the measured beamwidths and sidelobe levels are in
excellent agreement with the simulations. In addition, various antenna geom
etries that represent both damaged and incorrectly deployed operating condi
tions were also measured and simulated. Finally, an optimized array geometr
y is presented that provides improved antenna performance. (C) 1998 The Fra
nklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.