Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has signed an agreement with the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) to provide a share of the ‘tasking and data acquisition services’ from NovaSAR-1 — the small S-Band radar satellite launched into a 580km sun-synchronous orbit in September 2018.
The agreement gives DOST-ASTI ‘tasking priorities’ over the Philippines and the ability to access the raw data directly from the satellite, with a licence to use and share the data with their partners over an initial five-year period, extendable to the actual lifespan of the satellite.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can image the Earth through cloud cover and at night, and DOST-ASTI will use data from NovaSAR-1 in support of a number of applications; these include disaster monitoring, agricultural and forestry management, and coastal and maritime applications such as ship detection.
Andrew Cawthorne, director of Earth observation at SSTL (
www.sstl.co.uk), said “I am delighted to welcome DOST-ASTI colleagues to the NovaSAR-1 data team.
“I anticipate that the Philippines will benefit greatly from NovaSAR-1 data, particularly as the country has a tropical climate with frequent cloud cover, plus an extensive coastline and maritime territory.”
Joel Marciano, acting director of DOST-ASTI, said: “The SAR imaging capability of NovaSAR-1 is a timely and powerful
resource, as we continue to push scientific data, computing and space technology in support of evidence-based politics and decision-making in our country.”
NovaSAR-1 was designed and manufactured at SSTL, with an S-Band payload developed by Airbus Defence and Space
in Portsmouth (UK), and an Automatic Identification Receiver supplied by Honeywell Aerospace.
The SAR payload has a dedicated maritime mode designed with a very wide swath area of 400km, to enable the monitoring of the marine environment; it will provide direct-radar ship detection information simultaneously with AIS ship-tracking data to assist with the identification and tracking of sea-going vessels.
NovaSAR-1 is owned and operated by SSTL.