Session
Flash Talk Session 2
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
The ability to support Maritime Domain Awareness from space using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been successfully demonstrated in the past, however practical challenges in achieving the necessary area coverage, temporal coverage and spatial resolution for a practical system has eluded wider adoption. Yet demand for Maritime Surveillance has increased in recent years, to protect important maritime energy and communications infrastructure, fisheries, and maritime reserves, and especially for maintaining national security and territorial integrity. A novel approach to the SAR payload design solves these challenges, and smallsat technologies have also matured to the point where a High-Resolution Wide-Swath (HRWS) system can be implemented within a modest satellite form factor in a constellation, with the ability to persistently cover large, strategically important maritime areas. The HRWS minisatellites will have the ability to fit within the Falcon-9 XL launch slot, delivering with 0.5x3m resolution in strips of up to 400x4000km. Extending this to a constellation will allow vast areas to be monitored continuously, significantly improving domain awareness and leading to more efficient use of maritime and aerial assets towards specific areas of interest.
Document Type
Event
Presentation
Included in
Shining a Spotlight on Maritime Dark Traffic
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
The ability to support Maritime Domain Awareness from space using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been successfully demonstrated in the past, however practical challenges in achieving the necessary area coverage, temporal coverage and spatial resolution for a practical system has eluded wider adoption. Yet demand for Maritime Surveillance has increased in recent years, to protect important maritime energy and communications infrastructure, fisheries, and maritime reserves, and especially for maintaining national security and territorial integrity. A novel approach to the SAR payload design solves these challenges, and smallsat technologies have also matured to the point where a High-Resolution Wide-Swath (HRWS) system can be implemented within a modest satellite form factor in a constellation, with the ability to persistently cover large, strategically important maritime areas. The HRWS minisatellites will have the ability to fit within the Falcon-9 XL launch slot, delivering with 0.5x3m resolution in strips of up to 400x4000km. Extending this to a constellation will allow vast areas to be monitored continuously, significantly improving domain awareness and leading to more efficient use of maritime and aerial assets towards specific areas of interest.
