Inventors:
Hau H. Ho - Huntington Beach CA, US
Ethan A. Stein - Sterling VA, US
Michael Fashano - Murrieta CA, US
Peter J. Hadinger - Oakton VA, US
Gary Lehto - Palos Verdes Estates CA, US
Assignee:
Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. - Los Angeles CA
International Classification:
H04Q 7/20
US Classification:
455 121, 455 131, 455 133, 455 15, 455 19, 455427, 342354, 342352, 34235716, 342359, 342360
Abstract:
A payload () to be mounted onto a satellite () can include a first steerable antenna () providing a downlink to and an uplink from a first user terminal; a second steerable antenna () providing a downlink to and an uplink from a second user terminal; a switching network () coupling the first steerable antenna to the second steerable antenna; and a payload control unit () controlling the switching network to select one of the downlink to the first user terminal provided by the first steerable antenna and the downlink to the second user terminal provided by the second steerable antenna, and one of the uplink from the first user terminal provided by the first steerable antenna and the uplink from the second user terminal provided by the second steerable antenna.