The last we heard publicly from MDA on its next-generation Earth observation mission dubbed SARnext which is based on its decades heritage of Synthetic Aperture Radar technology, was in April at the GeoIgnite conference.
At the time Minda Suchan, vice-president of MDA’s geointelligence unit, said the company had completed preliminary design review for the new satellite mission and that there are “still some details to be fleshed out in coming weeks and months, so just stand by; we’ll have more announcements and more details to come as we move forward in our plans and our program.”
Some of those details were released today. MDA stated in a press release that “the new system will include a large C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operating in a mid-inclination orbit. Capable of covering a 700 km swath in a single pass, the new system will provide the broadest area coverage on the market, changing how, when and what can be seen.”
MDA further states that SARnext will have “a 40% larger imaging swath width” than RADARSAT-2. The system is meant to be 75% faster at tasking “increasing revisit and reducing delivery time, the system will also offer Near Real Time service with best in class download times direct to commercial customers in 15 minutes in targeted areas.”
“Capable of covering a 700 km swath at 50m resolution with an ability to image in left and right looking modes, the new system will be able to cover very large geographic areas quickly and cost effectively. As an example, the entire New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), one of the largest in the world, will be able to be fully imaged in less than 24 hours.”
“The new system lowers the barrier for commercial customers to access analytics-ready SAR data through cloud-based infrastructure with affordable subscription-based services requiring no up-front capital investment. With easy upgrades, large government and institutional users with specific requirements can continue to utilize their existing ground systems to take advantage of enhanced performance.”
“The program is currently in the design and development phase. Next level details including the launch date and full industrial team will be announced in the coming months.”
Mike Greenley, MDA’s Chief Executive Officer said “For decades, governments, commercial and institutional customers worldwide have counted on MDA’s Earth observation data to tackle some of the world’s biggest issues including national sovereignty and maritime border protection, illegal fishing, natural disasters and the effects of climate change. Leveraging the latest innovation and scientific advancements to provide a new level of real-time and actionable insight, our 4th generation Earth observation satellite will once again change how and when we see our planet.”