LESAF project has been published again in the prestigious magazine InFlight-Online. The article deals with the current status of in-flight satcom solutions and the perspectives of electronically steerable antennas (ESA) in the medium and long term.
The article:
The European LESAF (low-profile/drag electronically steerable antenna for IFC) Project, a European Union Clean Sky 2 initiative, completed its research into the optimum ESA technology for next generation IFC services earlier this year. Technology commercialisation is planned for 2025.
The Project was headed by European space and telecommunications company TT and antenna technology developer Celestia UK and included Thales UK. It developed a demonstrator based on high performance, efficiency and reliability, low profile/drag characteristics to result in fuel saving, and gate-to-gate connectivity operating with GEO, MEO and LEO systems, with multibeam capabilities and seamless handovers.
Project Manager, Manuel González, said, “It (the project) achieved the validation of the proposed ESA technology and the key main features of low profile/low drag, high scanning range, superior figures of merit EIRP and G/T, multibeam and flexible aperture reconfiguration”.
He added: “Technology and solutions for high performance in greener aviation were demonstrated. We are convinced ESAs will dominate the market over the course of the next decade”.
