SAR-Lupe

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 coord|50.5683|N|7.0363|E| 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; four more satellites were launched at roughly six-month intervals, and the entire system achieved full operational readiness on 22 July 2008. [ [http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0807/21sarlupe5/] Spaceflight now - Radar reconnaissance spacecraft launched]

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. [cite web | url = 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 | title = System price]

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: [http://www.telematicsolutions.de/gb/Security/sarlupe.html OHB-System AG]
* [http://www.lsespace.com/missions/sarlupe.php LSE Space Engineering & Operations AG]

ee 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

* [http://directory.eoportal.org/pres_SARLupeConstellation.html SAR-Lupe Constellation, eoPortal Directory]
* [http://www.c4isrjournal.com/story.php?F=2107972 "Germany’s SAR-Lupe constellation puts Europe ahead", C4ISR Journal]
*cite web | url = http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12026036 | title = Russian carrier rocket takes into space German intelligence sat | date = 2007-11-01 | publisher = Itar-Tass
* [http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/01sarlupe3/ German Earth-observing radar satellite launched]