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Some antennas can't be fully tested before they fly. CIMR is one of them - and therefore installed performance must be simulated right. The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) is a high priority ESA satellite mission that will map sea ice and ocean surface temperature from 832 km. Its 7.1 m deployable mesh reflector spins at 7.8 rpm, fed by a 13-feed cluster from 1.4 to 36.5 GHz, and must deliver radiometric accuracy of a few tenths of a Kelvin. At that level of accuracy, the standalone reflector pattern is only the starting point. The boom, truss, feed crate, spacecraft body and solar panels add scattering, blockage and coupling that reshape the pattern and alter the beam efficiency. And any power a scatterer sends into the feeds brings its thermal emission into the antenna temperature. And theres no test range for a deployed, spinning 7 m reflector in flight configuration. Installed performance must be modeled, predicted, and trusted, before launching. Together with Thales Alenia Space Italia and ESA, we did exactly that using ESTEAM in TICRA Tools: the complete satellite was solved full-wave, as one unified system, at L, C, X, K and Ka-band, straight from CAD files. No asymptotic shortcuts, not even at Ka-band, where the reflector alone is close to 900 wavelengths across. What we found, adding one structure at a time, where numbers are relative to the antenna stand alone: Beam efficiency was the sensitive parameter: changes of up to about 3% at L-band, down to 0.3% at Ka-band. Pointing, beamwidth and co-polar peak barely moved (co-polar peak change 0.13 dB at most). The feed crate dominated, through coupling between the feeds and its top floor. The truss mattered only at L- and C-band, and boom scattering was strongly polarisation-dependent. Spacecraft body and solar panels were second order. Panel scattering stays below -29 dB as the antenna spins, so theres no periodic error in the antenna temperature. And the computational side: the full satellite at Ka-band needed 689 GB of RAM and ran on a single server due to ESTEAM’s specialised, high-performance full-wave MoM solver. At L-band it required a mere 16 GB. That's what installed performance analysis should deliver: a scattering budget per structure, band and polarisation, with numbers you can defend with confidence in a design review, before you launch. A big thank you to our brilliant co-authors Vincenzo Lubrano and Salvatore Contu (Thales Alenia Space Italia), Roberto Mizzoni and Benedetta Fiorelli (ESA ESTEC), and to Pasquale Giuseppe Nicolaci and Cecilia Cappellin from TICRA. Questions about the analysis, or an installed performance challenge of your own? Please drop a comment below. Full details on ESTEAM and our paper can be found in the comments.

✨ 𝗔 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗭 𝟮.𝟬 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲— 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Seeing the fully assembled Compact Antenna Test Range at ESA—recently visited by a 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗦𝗔 and the 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 —marks a major milestone. When we began the electromagnetic design five years ago, we could hardly have imagined the journey ahead—and how impressive the completed facility would be. TICRA carried out the 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗥 and subsequently supported Media Lario S.r.l. and European Space Agency - ESA throughout the mechanical design, manufacturing and installation phases. Our role was to help 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗙 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 achieved in the simulations was 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 📐And what a structure: the 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 alone measures 𝟭𝟴.𝟱 × 𝟭𝟲.𝟭 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀, with serrations approximately 3 metres long to work already 𝗮𝘁 𝟭.𝟭 𝗚𝗛𝘇, inside an anechoic chamber of 32 × 24 × 18 metres. 🤝Moving from an optimised electromagnetic model to a structure of this scale requires 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 between RF specialists, mechanical designers, manufacturing and installation teams—and 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆. As project manager, I feel 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗥𝗔’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 to this remarkable new European test facility—and very happy to see the completed structure standing at ESA. 🚀𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗦𝗔, 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲! #AntennaTesting #CATR #TICRA #ESA #HERTZ20 #EMSimulation

💡𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮? That is exactly what we did in this 𝟭 𝗺 𝗞𝘂-𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮, comprising a shaped dual-reflector antenna, two Y-junction diplexers, a septum polarizer and coax-to-waveguide transitions. 🎯𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮 The different parts were analysed using the most appropriate electromagnetic method: • the rotationally symmetric 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 with a very fast 𝗕𝗼𝗥-𝗠𝗼𝗠 • the 𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 with 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 • general 𝟯𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀, such as junctions, launchers, miter bends, and polarizer with 𝟯𝗗 𝗠𝗼𝗠 🔗 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣 𝟯𝗗 then connected the components through their 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀, allowing them to be 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 instead of solving the entire structure as one large full-wave problem. In its initial design, the septum polarizer produced excessive cross-polarization in the far field of the complete reflector antenna. Instead of tuning it in standalone configuration, we instead 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 further 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 directly 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮. 📉 The result: 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟮𝟬 𝗱𝗕 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟮.𝟱 𝗚𝗛𝘇 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟳 𝗱𝗕 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟰.𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗛𝘇 — 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀! 🧠 The key idea is simple: 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮. Do the final optimisation with the components embedded in the complete system. Fast and specialised solvers and scattering-matrix cascading can make 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 ☕️ ❓How do you solve similar designs? #AntennaDesign #RFEngineering #Electromagnetics #MicrowaveEngineering #CHAMP3D #TICRATools

Want accurate weather forecasts? Then you need hyper-accurate antenna and platform scattering simulations. For the European Space Agency - ESA Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) TICRA assisted in the platform scattering analysis for the antenna, itself composed of off-axis reflector optics, an on-board calibration target (OBCT), and multiple feed horns, all housed in a chassis frame. By implementing this model in the TICRA Tools full-wave solver #ESTEAM we were able to model the stray light scattering and incorporate safeguards such as a baffle structure and absorber materials in various locations to optimise the overall antenna efficiency. TICRA was delighted to work with Roland Albers, the founder of MMOSS, who was responsible for the overall design of the AWS quasi-optics and OBCT. The resultant design, which is now flying above our heads as we write this, has been "hailed as excellent by the European Space Agency" Read more about this work at https://lnkd.in/enwC66hH

Helping engineers understand antenna performance before making critical design decisions.

From satellite payloads to radar systems, specialised software helping engineers understand performance before hardware is built.