Ryerson University|Université Ryerson

Purpose

Replacement of Large Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites used for Earth mapping, surveillance and monitoring can take more than a decade and is very expensive. An alternative would consist of using a constellation of several identical small and inexpensive satellites, making the satellite easy to reconfigure and to replace. The project objective is to design a mission consisting of a formation of four small satellites (CubeSats) meeting a SAR mission's requirements, demonstrating that it is possible to meet these requirements with small satellite platforms compared to large ones. There are many benefits to the use of small satellites, including shortened development times and lower mission costs. These satellites provide inexpensive platforms to test new technologies in space, and they enable the use of formations and constellations of satellites.