METS System The METS system consists of five main components as follows: (1) a microwave transmitter (MWT) with an active-phased-array antenna (PAA); (2) a target satellite (TGS) for the energy transmission test; (3) a diagnostic package (DGP) to observe plasma phenomena excited by the high power microwave; (4) a neutral gas plume (NGP) for an active experiment on ohmic heating by the microwave beam; and (5) a control/data management system (CDMS). The METS configuration on board the SFU is shown in Fig. 3. 1. Microwave Transmitter (MWT) The microwave transmitter system consists of the active PAA, an oscillator of 2.45 GHz, a power supply and a controller. The main component of the transmitter is the circle-shaped PAA (diameter 2.7 m). A possible configuration of the PAA as installed on the SFU is shown in Fig. 4. All the antenna elements (indicated by dots and small circles) are placed on the corners of equilateral triangles. The subarrays (SAR) (shown as hexagons in the figure) are the most elementary components of the MWT. The PAA is composed of 109 SARs, each of which has seven antenna elements.
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