Patent ID: 6999044

Claim:
A reflector antenna system comprising: at least one antenna reflector having an arcuate shape and defining a first antenna beam; and a phased array antenna positioned in the first antenna beam and comprising first and second arrays of antenna elements coupled together in back-to-back relation, said first array facing said at least one antenna reflector, and said second array facing away from said at least one antenna reflector, and a controller connected to said first and second arrays of antenna elements and being switchable between a reflecting mode and a direct mode; said controller when in the reflecting mode for causing a plurality of back-to-back pairs of first antenna elements from said first and second arrays to define at least one feed-through zone for the first antenna beam, and for causing a plurality of second antenna elements in said first array to define at least one first active zone for the first antenna beam; said controller when in the direct mode for causing a plurality of antenna elements in said second array to define at least one second active zone for a second antenna beam.