This paper deals with the design of two identical 1 × 4 patch antenna arrays for a linear frequency modulated (LFM) continuous wave (CW) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) prototype. The theoretical design is carried out by using the empirical equations available in the literature, while the design optimization is performed by numerical methods using two commercial full wave simulators. Once the antennas are built they are experimentally characterized and incorporated into a radar prototype implemented at the Ecuadorian Space Institute. The radar is tested in a probing polygon and the horizontal resolution is estimated. A measured azimuthal resolution value very close to the theoretical one is achieved