Tag Archives: Synthetic Aperture Radar

Japan is considering building a constellation of microsatellites for maritime domain awareness (MDA) operations over the South China Sea, East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan to monitor Chinese maritime and naval activities, especially around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands.

China's Hainan Earth observation satellite constellation that is designed to "reinforce national sovereignty" over the South China Sea and other disputed territories is set to start launching its first satellites in 2019, according to Chinese state media reports.

As previously reported in SpaceWatch.Global, South Korea has followed through on its threat to change the preferred bidder for its five-satellite reconnaissance constellation, tapping Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to lead the programme.

Two NewSpace companies are set to leverage their synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and data analytics capabilities to help decision makers across the oil industry.

South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD), an agency of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), has said that it does not rule out finding another contractor to lead the South Korean reconnaissance satellite programme after current contractor, LIG Nex1, is reported to want to lower the requirement standards for satellite imagery quality and quantity.

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-2A satellite launch vehicle successfully lofted Japan’s latest Intelligence Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in the Southwest of Japan on Tuesday, 27 February, 2018. The IGS-Optical 6 satellite is one of several Japan has in orbit, including a number with …

The government of South Korea has approved the sale of high-resolution satellite imagery taken by Korean high-resolution Earth observation satellites. The Satrec Initiative, a local provider for earth observation, will sell the imagery, and it has already signed export deals with India and the Philippines. This approval was announced last …

SpaceX successfully launched Spain’s high-resolution synthetic aperture radar  (SAR) PAZ reconnaissance satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Thursday, 22 February, 2018. The successful launch of PAZ is the latest by a Mediterranean country and intensifies the space-based surveillance and reconnaissance competition of the geopolitically important sea. The …

The head of the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN – Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional) announced in Singapore that his country intends to build and launch two Earth observation microsatellites by 2020, and that Indonesia still has ambitions to develop its own space launch capability. Prof. Dr. …

The recent announcement by China to orbit ten Earth observation satellites to solidify its sovereign claim for the South China Sea is a harbinger of the competitions to come for the control of other vital strategic waters across the globe. ThorGroup’s Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, examines this phenomenon …