MDA announced today that it will design and build a commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for its own commercial use, a departure in how it has previously approached satellite development.
A history of synthetic aperture radar development
The move is an important one for MDA as it looks to keep the flow of revenue from its SAR program going as it looks beyond the lifespan of its existing RADARSAT-2 satellite.
MDA will leverage its long history in developing SAR technology and data products to its advantage now. The RADARSAT-2 satellite is past its shelf life and is still functioning, but it’s only a matter of time before more hardware fails and the satellite is decommissioned.
Up until now, MDA has always partnered with government to build SAR satellites. RADARSAT-1 was a government owned project built by MDA, though the company was able to sell some RADARSAT-1 data.
It’s successor, RADARSAT-2 was once again built by MDA in partnership with government, but in part due to economic pressure at the time, the satellite ownership was transferred over to MDA. MDA used that to further build its commercial SAR sales pipeline and cement itself as a commercial SAR data leader in the global marketplace. While some in government, and others with long memories, still grumble about this deal, the end result is what they wanted. A Canadian company with global leadership in a specific space area.
After RARARSAT-1 failed in 2013, and as a follow on to the RADARSAT-2 mission, the Canadian government ordered a three satellite SAR constellation follow-on called RADARSAT Constellation Mission. RCM was to be the sole property of government with limited real-time commercial data available. MDA was not going to be able to count on data sales from RCM.
Which brings us to the decision announced today, to build its own SAR satellite. MDA told SpaceQ that no details will be released yet on the size of the satellites. But it’s unlikely to be as small as the commercial Finnish IceEye SAR satellites. It’s more likely they will build on the lessons learned in developing the RCM satellites and leverage that expertise. MDA also stated they will use a Canadian supply chain as much as possible.
In today’s press release, MDA CEO Mike Greenley said “MDA delivers world-class operational geospatial intelligence systems and services that empower government and commercial customers around the globe to make critical decisions in support of their missions. This announcement today represents a significant investment in our company’s future, and will introduce a new and reliable source of next generation Earth observation data, imagery and analytics to the world.”
The press release further stated that “RADARSAT-2, a public-private partnership with the Government of Canada, was launched in 2007 and continues today to offer reliable, near-real-time access to all-weather imagery and surveillance information for a wide range of mission-critical civil, commercial and defence applications, producing over 75,000 images per year. Providing coverage from 144 km2 to 265,000 km2 in a single scene using 20 imaging modes looking both right and left, RADARSAT-2 provides the greatest flexibility and commercial capacity of any SAR mission.
MDA will also leverage its growing expertise with artificial intelligence and machine learning for the new satellite system.