The missions on this page have been / are being considered as part of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) domain of EDAP and EDAP+, respectively. Further missions are expected to be added to this domain throughout the project.

Details on the methods and reference data used for these assessments can be found below:

Technical Note on Methods and Reference Data for SAR Data Quality Assessments

SAOCOM

The Argentinean Satélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas (SAOCOM) mission comprises of two satellites phased at 180° that carry an L-band full polarimetric SAR instrument. The satellites are right and left looking, with 400 km ground range access. Together, they will acquire 450 minutes of satellite data per day.

The first of two satellites, SAOCOM 1A, was launched on 7 October 2018 into a Sun-synchronous orbit polar orbit, with a 16 day repeat cycle and 6AM local time ascending node. The same orbit was used for the second satellite, SAOCOM 1B, which was successfully launched on 30 August 2020.

The satellites are operated in Stripmap (10 x 10 m resolution) and, as primary option, in TopSAR (Terrain Observation with Progressive Scans) mode (resolution from 30 to 100 m according to the mode). The TopSAR technique is operationally used in Sentinel-1 but until now has never been used at L-band.

Stripmap mode can be used for SAR interferometry with 8 days temporal baseline (constellation) or 16 days temporal baseline (single satellite). SAOCOM InSAR quality will be evaluated in the framework of EDAP+ project.

SAOCOM documentation:

Technical Note on Quality Assessment for SAOCOM

Provider	Instrument	Status
SAOCOM	Medium-resolution SAR sensor in L-band (full polarimetric)	The constellation is composed of two satellites (SAOCOM 1-A and 1-B). The first satellite was launched in October 2018, the second satellite was successfully launched on 30 August 2020.

ICEYE

The ICEYE constellation is formed by several small satellites, each one weighing less than 100 kg. The large constellation is aimed to enable imaging of specified areas of interest multiple times a day, thus allowing quick tactical acquisitions as well as frequent revisit rates globally. The first proof-of-concept platform (ICEYE-X1) was launched in January 2018 followed by a second satellite (ICEYE-X2) in December 2018. Recent deployments include launches of X6 and X7 in September 2020; X8, X9, X10 in January 2021; X11, X12, X13 and X15 in June 2021; X14 and X16 in January 2022; X17, X18, X19; X20 and X24 in May 2022. Commercial access to ICEYE 1-m resolution SAR imagery began in October 2019. The current operational plan foresees a constellation of 18 satellites operating at X-band.

ICEYE can be operated in Spotlight (<1 m resolution, up to 10 km swath), Stripmap (3 m resolution, 30 km swath) and ScanSAR (15 m resolution, 100 km swath) modes. Spot and Stripmap images can also be used for SAR interferometry.

ICEYE satellites documentation:

Find out about ICEYE

Capella Space

Capella Space is a U.S. based company, founded in 2016. Capella designs, manufacturers, and operates SAR satellites for all-weather, 24/7 Earth observation. In 2023 Capella is launching its third generation “Acadia” satellites that will deliver the highest-quality, high-resolution commercial SAR imagery on the market.

Each Capella Space satellite features an X-band SAR instrument, which operates with a bandwidth from 500 MHz up to 700MHz. This single-polarized instrument allows for imaging in various modes including spotlight, stripmap, and sliding spotlight. In certain modes the user can select the image size and is able to trade resolution for image quality, which enables a variety of uses including monitoring military threats, observing glacial meltwater dynamics, coordinating disaster response, detecting vessels at sea and persistent global change monitoring.

The constellation provides SAR images with very fine spatial resolution, ranging from 0.25 m up to 1.2 m. The scene coverage goes from 5 x 5 km up to 5 x 20 km.

Capella’s SAR products are accessible through the fully automated online platform and flexible API that allows users to directly place tasks and download imagery.

Capella Space documentation:

Technical Note for Capella Data Assessment

Find out about Capella Space

PAZ

The PAZ satellite, formerly known as SEOSAR, was launched in February 2018 and is positioned in the same orbit as the German owned TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites to form a satellite constellation with them.

Download documentation related to the PAZ mission:

Technical Note on Quality Assessment for PAZ

PAZ – TanDEM-X – Cosmo-Skymed Intercomparison Study

A dedicated assessment has been performed undertaking an intercomparison of the SAR quality parameters of the PAZ satellite, the TanDEM-X satellites (TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X), and the Cosmo-SkyMed (CSK) constellation. The results of this assessment may be found in the following Technical Note:

Technical Note on PAZ-TSX-CSK Intercomparison Quality Assessment

Find out about PAZ

NovaSAR-1

NovaSAR-1 is a small SAR mission from the cooperation of SSTL (Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.) and Airbus DS UK, funded by the UK Government via the UKSA (UK Space Agency). The S-band (3.1-3.3 GHz, wavelength of ~ 10 cm) antenna is a micro-strip patch phased array of ~ 3 m x 1 m in size. The payload can transmit and receive on both horizontal and vertical polarizations.

NovaSAR-1 was launched in 2018 and operates in a sun-synchronous orbit at 580km with an LTAN (Local Time of the Ascending Node) of 10:30. The repeat cycle is approximately 16 days.

NovaSAR-1 can be operated in the following modes: Stripmap (6 m resolution, 20 km swath), ScanSAR (20 m resolution, up to 100 km swath), ScanSAR Wide (30-50 m resolution, up to 190 km swath) and experimental maritime ship detection mode (30m resolution, extended swath of >400km). L2 ARD products are also generated from L1 products.

The EDAP+ assessment covers L1 Stripmap and ScanSAR modes and L2 ARD products.

NovaSAR-1 documentation:

Technical Note on Quality Assessment for NovaSAR-1

Find out about NovaSAR-1

EOS-04 (aka RISAT-1A)

EOS-04, formerly known as RISAT-1A, is operated by the Indian space agency (ISRO) and was launched in 2022. It is intended as a follow-on mission to RISAT-1 launched in 2012 and is expected to have its twin satellite, RISAT-1B, launched by 2024. The EOS-04 satellite operates at C-band, and can acquire in Stripmap, ScanSAR and potentially Spotlight modes, with spatial resolution ranging from 3 m up to 50 m.

As part of the assessment of EOS-04, a dedicated analysis has also been performed undertaking an intercomparison of the mission capabilities and SAR quality parameters of the EOS-04 (aka RISAT-1A) and Sentinel-1A C-band satellites.

EOS-04 documentation:

Technical Note on Quality Assessment for EOS-04

SAR Missions

Overview