SAR imagery to be provided to U.S. Navy
NewsMay 14, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. Capella Space announced it has signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the purpose of providing airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to the U.S. Navy. Facilitated through the Defense Innovation Unit's Commercial Solutions Opening, Capella will also provide the DoD with in-house analytics services to interpret the data.
Capella will provide the DoD with SAR data collected by an airborne collection campaign using Capella's synthetic radar flown on board a specially equipped and outfitted airplane. According to the company, this aerial campaign will give the DoD early access to Capella's SAR imagery and user console ahead of its first operational satellite launch planned later in the year.
SAR systems are designed to image in all weather, day or night, and capture amplitude and phase history data enabling the extraction of highly valuable information such as material properties, moisture content, elevation, and precise changes and movements, which are not available with optical imagery.
When fully deployed, Capella's satellite constellation aims to collect sub-0.5 meter SAR imagery, which is intended to identify types of aircraft or vehicles on the ground and provide 24/7 monitoring and change detection in any weather and lighting conditions.
