CSIRO and SSTL strike data deal from NovaSAR-S satellite

SSTL will provide Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation a 10 per cent share of the tasking and data acquisition capabilities from NovaSAR-S, which is due for launch later this year. The agreement was signed in Adelaide at the International Astronautical Congress.

NovaSAR-S is a technology demonstration mission designed to complement much larger, complex radar satellites with a smaller, lighter and more cost-effective platform that delivers Earth observation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery day and night, and through cloud cover.

Managing the energy use on board the small SAR platform has been made possible with a new S-band solid-state amplifier technology and flying an S-band SAR payload developed by Airbus UK.

Luis Gomes, SSTL’s commercial director said: “We anticipate that CSIRO will greatly enhance Australia’s sovereign Earth observation capability with the addition of SAR data, particularly for this continent which has a tropical climate and a large coastline territory.”

The agreement gives CSIRO tasking priorities and the ability to access the raw data directly from the satellite, and a license to use and share the data with other Australian companies and organisations over an initial seven-year period.