An Earth monitoring system comprises a satellite constellation (310) and a schedule calculation module (302) located on Earth. The schedule calculation module (302) may be configured to implement a satellite management method receiving a request post-launch for a location to be imaged; recalculating an existing schedule of the satellites to provide an updated schedule that includes imaging the location; and providing the updated schedule for transmission to one or more of the satellites.

A radar satellite of the present invention comprises a radar unit including a plurality of radar panels coupled to each other in a single flat plate shape, each of the plurality of radar panels including a plurality of antennas which transmit and receive radar waves, and a solar cell; and a communication/control unit which performs communications with a spot on an earth or a spacecraft. The radar unit includes: a radar panel array which is a plate-shaped structure including the plurality of radar panels; and a deployable truss structure including a plurality of side frame members supporting the plurality of radar panels, respectively, and coupled to each other in such a manner that the side frame members are foldable and deployable.

A constellation of satellites may include a plurality of satellites in each of two or more different orbits. Satellites in a given orbit may operate in pairs, flying in tandem, one satellite leading, the other trailing closely behind, to be positioned to image the same target(s) of interest with substantially the same orientation (geographical coincident) at substantially the same time (temporally coincident). The first satellite may acquire SAR data, determine a location of a target of interest, assess cloud cover, and based on an extent of cloud cover, can acquire additional SAR data or cause the second satellite to capture optical imaging data (e.g., cross-cueing). Selection of orbits can provide a relatively high revisit rate may be obtained, allowing frequent opportunities to image given locations on a planet (e.g., Earth). One or more ground stations communicate with the constellation of satellites, and inter-satellite communications may be employed.

An image processing system generates enhanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery using a trainer that generates an information model that defines a set of trained data based on correlated classifications of pairs of spatially and/or temporally coincident SAR and optical images, and using a SAR image enhancer that applies a transformation to generate a color image from the SAR image data. Correlated classifications may be based on specific applications. The system may generate or update trained data to be used for classification based on a set of training SAR images and training optical images. The system may assess or determine correlations between the classified SAR and optical image data sets, establishing levels of confidence in such correlations.

A satellite system operates at altitudes between 180 km and 350 km relying on vehicles including an engine to counteract atmospheric drag to maintain near-constant orbit dynamics. The system operates at altitudes that are substantially lower than traditional satellites, reducing size, weight and cost of the vehicles and their constituent subsystems such as optical imagers, radars, and radio links. The system can include a large number of lower cost, mass, and altitude vehicles, enabling revisit times substantially shorter than previous satellite systems. The vehicles spend their orbit at low altitude, high atmospheric density conditions that have heretofore been virtually impossible to consider for stable orbits. Short revisit times at low altitudes enable near-real time imaging at high resolution and low cost. At such altitudes, the system has no impact on space junk issues of traditional LEO orbits, and is self-cleaning in that space junk or disabled craft will de-orbit.

The system is configured to generate a display of a tagging interface. The tagging interface may include a stitching selector. In response to a user selection of (1) a destination element that includes a first name identifier, (2) a source element that includes at least one of the plurality of pixels such that at least one of the plurality of pixels corresponding to longitude-time points comprising a second name identifier, and (3) the stitching selector, the system can be configured to indicate that the source element comprises the first name identifier.

The invention concerns a method for reducing the costs of a satellite remote sensing service. The method comprises providing a satellite remote sensing system that includes only one satellite equipped with a sensor configured to acquire images of areas of the earth's surface, the satellite remote sensing system being designed to provide a satellite remote sensing service based on the images acquired by the sensor on board the satellite. In particular, the satellite follows a predefined orbit around the earth with an orbit repeat cycle shorter than three days, whereby a satellite remote sensing service with very good time performance, excellent interferometric capabilities and with drastically reduced costs is obtained.

Disclosed herein is a space-based distributed radar system for facilitating imaging of areas, in accordance with some embodiments. Further, the space-based distributed radar system comprises a satellite cluster including satellites. Further, the satellites in the satellite cluster flies in a formation that transitions between orientations in relation to an area. Further, each satellite comprises a bay, a panel comprising a solar panel array and a microstrip antenna array, a transmitter, and a receiver. Further, the transmitter simultaneously transmits a signal towards the area using the microstrip antenna array in each of the orientations based on generating a signal information. Further, the receiver of each of the satellites receives a return signal from the area using the microstrip antenna array in each of the orientations for producing a return signal information. Further, an image of the area is formed using the signal information and the return signal information.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for space surveillance are disclosed herein. In one or more embodiments, the disclosed method involves scanning, by at least one sensor on at least one satellite in inclined super-geostationary earth orbit (super-GEO), a raster scan over a field of regard (FOR). In one or more embodiments, the scanning is at a variable rate, which is dependent upon a target dwell time for detecting a target of interest. In at least one embodiment, the target dwell time is a function of a range from at least one sensor to the target of interest and a function of a solar phase angle. In some embodiments, the axis of inclination of the inclined super-GEO is a function of the solar phase angle.

There are provided methods of processing satellite state data, comprising receiving satellite state data in the form of multiple separate files via one or more ground stations and compiling the received satellite state data into a single dataset accessible via an application programming interface and searchable by time range. There are further provided methods of processing satellite state data comprising receiving raw satellite state data; receiving manoeuvre data relating to one or more scheduled manoeuvres of the satellite; and filtering the received raw satellite state data in an orbit determination process to provide filtered satellite state data, wherein the manoeuvre data is used in the filtering of the received raw satellite state data. There are further provided methods of scheduling a satellite manoeuvre comprising: receiving parameters for one or more planned manoeuvres to move the satellite from a current orbit to a new orbit, wherein the parameters include a time and duration of each of the one or more planned manoeuvres; receiving times of eclipses of the Sun by the Earth during future orbits of the satellite; and scheduling the manoeuvre to take place according to the determined parameters and the times of eclipses.