Abstract
This paper presents a fast and lowcomplexity method for evaluating the boresight gain of directive space antennas using a compact measurement system based on infrared thermography. The on-axis electric field radiated by the antenna under test is measured at several distances in the near-field region, and the far-field gain is then obtained by extrapolation, with no nearfield to far-field transformation. The method is applied at 8.2 GHz to an X-band 8×8 right-hand circularly polarized array from Anteral designed for small satellite platforms. The extrapolated gain shows good agreement with the realized gain measured by the manufacturer, making the approach promising for gain verification of antennas in New Space production environments.
