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 which are controlled by a ground station 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 Kommando Strategische Aufklärung (Strategic Reconnaissance Command) of the Bundeswehr.
SAR-Lupe's "high-resolution" images can be acquired day or night through all weather conditions. The first satellite was launched from Plesetsk in Russia on 19 December 2006, about a year after the intended launch date; four more satellites were launched at roughly six-month intervals, and the entire system achieved full operational readiness on 22 July 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.
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.
Launches
Contractors
- Prime Contractor: OHB-System AG (SAR-Lupe)
- LSE Space Engineering & Operations AG
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
References
- ^ SAR-Lupe ground station: Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr (ZNBw), Max-Planck-Str. 17, 53501 Gelsdorf 50°34′06″N 7°02′11″E / 50.5683°N 7.0363°E / 50.5683; 7.0363
- ^ Spaceflight now - Radar reconnaissance spacecraft launched
- ^ "System price" . http://www.thalesonline.com/space/Press-Room/Press-Release-search-all/Press-Release-search-result/Press-Release-Article.html?link=0a0d685d-780e-0f75-2668-7a0f11620611:central&locale=EN-gb .
- SAR-Lupe Constellation, eoPortal Directory
- Germany’s SAR-Lupe constellation puts Europe ahead , C4ISR Journal
- "Russian carrier rocket takes into space German intelligence sat". Itar-Tass. 2007-11-01 . http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12026036 .
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