The TerraSAR-X Mission

Abstract

The German national SAR-satellite system TerraSAR-X is based on a public-private-partnership agreement between the German Aerospace center DLR and EADS Astrium GmbH. It is the continuation of the scientifically and technologically successful radar missions X-SAR (1994) and SRTM (2000) and is designed for scientific and commercial applications. The TerraSAR-X features an advanced high-resolution X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar based on the active phased array technology which allows the operation in Spotlight-, Stripmapand ScanSAR Mode with various polarizations. It combines the ability to acquire high resolution images for detailed analysis as well as wide swath images for overview applications. In addition, experimental modes like the Dual Receive Antenna Mode allow for full-polarimetric imaging as well as along track interferometry, i.e. moving target identification. The corresponding TerraSAR-X Ground Segment is based on existing national infrastructure as much as possible and will be optimized for flexible response to (scientific and commercial) user requests and fast image product turn-around times. The overall system design is based on a sound market analysis performed by the Infoterra Company, a subsidiary of EADS Astrium. This paper will describe first the public-private-partnership scheme applicable for TerraSAR-X, the roles and responsibilities of the partners as well as the overall project organization. The mission and system design will then be described, followed by a brief overview of the satellite as well as the SAR instrument and its basic performance. Finally, a description of the TerraSAR-X Ground Segment as well as an overview of the actual project status is given. 1 The Project Organization 1.1 The Public-Private Partnership TerraSAR-X will serve two main goals: The first goal is to provide the strongly supportive scientific community with multi-mode X-Band SAR data. The broad spectrum of scientific application areas include Hydrology, Geology, Climatology, Oceanography, Environmental Monitoring and Disaster Monitoring as well as Cartography (DEM Generation) and Interferometry. The second goal is the establishment of a commercial EO-market in Europe, i.e. the development of a sustainable EO-business so that the e.g. follow-on systems can be completely financed by industry from the profit. Due to its commercial potential, the TerraSAR-X project is implemented based on a public-private partnership between DLR and the EADS Astrium GmbH. Under this agreement DLR will be the owner of the TerraSAR-X satellite and all of its data and will be responsible for the scientific utilization of the data. EADS Astrium on the other hand is in exchange for the exclusive commercial data exploitation rights contributing a significant share of the development cost as well as of the satellite operations cost. The system design is based on a sound market analysis performed by the Infoterra Company, a subsidiary of EADS Astrium, that will be responsible for the commercial exploitation of TerraSAR-X data. DLR TerraSAR-X Astrium/ITD Project Management Joint ProjectCommittee Management (DLR-RD) System Engineering Science Support Coordination (DLR-IHR) (DLR-DFD/IMF) Mission and Integration Manager