SAR-Lupe
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SAR-Lupe is Germany's first reconnaissance satellite system. SAR is an abbreviation for Synthetic Aperture Radar and "Lupe" is German for magnifying glass. The SAR-Lupe program consists of five identical (770kg) satellites, developed by the German aeronautics company OHB-System, and one ground station at the Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr (ZNBw), Max-Planck-Str. 17, 53501 Gelsdorf which is responsible for controlling the system and analysing the retrieved data. A large data archive of images will be kept in a former Cold War bunker belonging to the ZNBw.
SAR-Lupe's "high-resolution" images can be acquired day or night through all weather conditions. The first satellite was launched from Plesetsk on 19 December 2006, about a year after the intended launch date; further satellites will be launched at roughly six-month intervals, and the entire system will be fully operational by 2008.
The five satellites operate in three 500-kilometre orbits in planes roughly sixty degrees apart. They use an X-band radar with a three-metre dish, providing a resolution of about 50 centimetres over a frame size of 5.5km on a side ('spotlight mode', in which the satellite rotates to keep the dish pointed at a single target) or about one metre over a frame size of 8km x 60km ('stripmap mode', in which the satellite maintains a fixed orientation over the earth and the radar image is formed simply by the satellite's motion along its orbit). Response time for imaging of a given area is ten hours or less. Thales Alenia Space provided the core of the Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors.[1]
The testing of SAR-Lupe involved an inverse procedure, in which the satellite, mounted in a radome on Earth, was used to image the International Space Station, whose orbit is reasonably close to the one the satellite will eventually be in. One-metre resolution at the ISS was apparently achieved.
On 30 July 2002 a cooperation treaty between Germany and France was signed, under which the SAR-Lupe satellites and the French Helios optical reconnaissance satellite will operate jointly. Other EU countries have been invited to join as well and Italy has shown considerable interest.
The price of system is estimated on €250 millions.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Launches
| Satellite | Date | Carrier rocket | Launch site | Launch status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAR-Lupe-1 | 19 December 2006 | Cosmos-3M[1] | Plesetsk | Success |
| SAR-Lupe-2 | 2 July 2007 | Cosmos-3M[2] | Plesetsk | Success |
| SAR-Lupe-3 | 1 November 2007 | Cosmos-3M[3] | Plesetsk | Success |
| SAR-Lupe-4 | 27 March 2008 | Kosmos-3M[4] | Plesetsk | Success |
| SAR-Lupe-5 | NET October 2008 | Kosmos-3M | Plesetsk | planned |
[edit] Contractors
- Prime Contractor: OHB-System AG
- LSE Space Engineering & Operations AG
[edit] See also
- COSMO-SkyMed, a system of four military and civil SAR-satellites of Italy
- TerraSAR-X, a civilian German radar satellite
- European Union Satellite Centre
