Capella Space First Operational SAR Satellite

Davide Castelletti, Gordon Farquharson, Craig Stringham, Michael Duersch, Duncan Eddy

Abstract: Capella Space launched its first commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite in August 2020. After commissioning phase, Capella started commercial operations in January 2021, deploying a fully-functional SAR system that demonstrates three engineering milestones: an 8-m2 deployable reflector mounted on small and agile satellite; the capability to process and timely deliver 0.5 m resolution spotlight images with 9 looks; and an automated tasking and delivery system that simplifies the ordering of high-quality SAR imagery for expert and novice users. In this paper, we present results from the commissioning and calibration/validation operations. We also compare images collected with the variety of imaging modes that Capella systems can collect.