Tom

Don't forget to claim back the expenses that you've incurred for these models...

More seriously - is the intention to have a separate phase shifter for each element?

1. A scheme which has been used in the past on electrically despun arrays is to have a discrete beam former with N beams and then discretely switch to the best of the beams as the s/c rotates. IMHO, this is a REALLY BAD  :-P idea because there will be abrupt phase and amplitude discontinuities when switching from one beam to the next as the s/c spins.
2. A neat "zero click" adaptation of #1 can be done with a linear or square array. For this geometry, the "optimum" combiner is the Butler matrix which is the electrical realization of the Cooley-Tukey FFT. Assume that tap X is the beam now, and that Y is best for the next rotation step. If we use an in-phase variable power splitter that can linearly interpolate between the X & Y position, we can smoothly move the beam with no discontinuities. The interpolation is done in POWER with fractions [P] and [1-P] split between the X & Y taps. To build this for an NxN array, we build the combiner that makes NxN beams (of which [N-1]x[N-1] will be used -- we have no need to make use of the beam on the array's "horizon"). I've tested (in MATLAB) this idea for an 8x1 and 8x8 array. I haven't had a magic idea on a Butler-like matrix for hexagonal geometry.
   
3. We could devise some continuous phase shifter to be applied to each element. The required phase shift for any given pointing direction is a linear phase gradient across the aperture -- i.e. when viewed from the target (earth), we need to compensate for the geometrical phase offsets due to the plane of the array. [ Note: If we can generate the phase gradient easily, then we can free ourselves from any geometric constraints -- the elements an be located anywhere on the spacecraft.]