Carrying a powerful radar that can "see through" clouds and darkness, RADARSAT will produce high resolution images of the Earth’s lands and oceans. Data from satellite images will be used for research and applications in oceanography, agriculture, forestry, hydrology and geology. Information on sea ice and terrestrial ice sheets will be used for climate studies and as a real-time aid for navigation of Arctic Ocean waters, including iceberg surveillance.
RADARSAT is a cooperative program between the Canadian Space Agency, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Canadian Space Agency developed and will operate the satellite; NASA will furnish the Delta II launch. In exchange, U.S. government agencies will have access to all 6-month-old archived RADARSAT data and direct approximately 15 percent of the satellite’s observing time. An important use of the data in the U.S. will be by the National Ice Center, operated collectively by NOAA, the Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard to produce forecasts of sea ice and ice conditions on the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay.
RADARSAT will provide the first routine surveillance of the entire Arctic region by way of daily ice charts. The images can differentiate new ice from old ice and will make it easier to plot ship routes and enhance the safety of ships, operations at offshore oil exploration platforms and ocean research activities in the Arctic. In the Antarctic , RADARSAT will provide new data to create better maps of ice fields. The spacecraft can also detect changes in coastal erosion, detect shipping operations near shores, and pinpoint potentially productive fishing areas.
Urban planners will be able to chart the expansion or decline of urban areas and farmland. Data on the moisture content of soil can be used to determine developing drought patterns, forecast crop production, and determine the extent of flood damage or the impact of water diversion projects. Many of the world’s rain forest areas, mountainous and coastal regions will be accurately mapped for the first time. By mapping the Earth’s surface using radar, geological features can be used in the search for new mineral, oil and gas deposits.
RADARSAT data can assist oil spill clean-up operations by mapping the extent of marine oil spills and even be used to identify appropriate sites for hazardous waste disposal. Also the deterioration of forests caused by acid rain and other factors can be monitored. Maps of forests can be created to monitor the extent of clear-cutting over periods of time, and also the success of replanting operations.
RADARSAT, built by Spar Aerospace of Canada, weighs approximately 6,300 pounds, and with antenna and solar arrays fully deployed, spans 60 feet. The launch azimuth for the Delta rocket will be 196 degrees. After spacecraft separation, the spacecraft’s orbital altitude will be 490 statute miles. The solar arrays are scheduled for deployment about 90 minutes after launch. Three days later the radar antenna will be deployed.
The RADARSAT spacecraft will operate in a near-polar sun synchronous orbit at an inclination of 98.6 degrees at an altitude of about 500 statute miles (approximately an 800 km circular orbit). This orbit has been chosen so that the satellite crosses the equator at its local time of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., which keeps it almost perpetually in the sun, thus enabling it to draw power continuously from its solar arrays. RADARSAT’s orbit allows it to cover the Arctic daily, all of Canada every three days and the entire globe every four to five days.
Data will be downlinked to one of three tracking and data stations located at Gatineau, Quebec; Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; and Fairbanks, Alaska. There will be other stations around the world which will be licensed to receive RADARSAT data. NOAA will facilitate distribution of data to other U.S. government agencies and will make use of the data for its own environmental monitoring programs. Radarsat International, Inc. (RSI) will be the commercial distributor of RADARSAT data worldwide. Lockheed Martin, a partner in RSI, has distribution rights in the United States.
Also attached to the Delta II second stage is SURFSAT (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Satellite). SURFSAT will be used as a test vehicle for NASA, supporting deep space communications research and training of tracking station personnel at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Network.
RADARSAT and SURFSAT are being launched aboard Delta 229, a McDonnell Douglas Delta II launch vehicle model 7920-10 rocket. This is a two- stage expendable vehicle with nine strap-on solid rocket motors and a ten-foot payload fairing. The rocket is 125 feet tall and eight feet in diameter. The Delta first stage burns liquid oxygen and RP-1, a highly refined kerosene. The total thrust at liftoff is 789,420 pounds which is created by the first stage and six of the nine solid rocket motors. Three of the nine solid rocket motors will ignite at altitude during the first-stage burn. After first stage separation, the second stage ignites burning Aerozine-50 fuel and using nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer. Two separate burns by the Delta second stage will place RADARSAT in its proper orbit.
This launch marks the first use of the fully renovated and modified Space Launch Complex 2-West. The last launch from SLC-2W was the Cosmic Observation Background Explorer (COBE) which occurred almost six years ago on Nov. 18, 1989. First used by NASA for Delta launches starting in 1969, the launch pad mobile service structure and fixed umbilical tower have been raised approximately 12 feet to accommodate the longer length of the Delta II vehicle.
The Kennedy Space Center is responsible for government oversight of the Delta II processing activities at Vandenberg Air Force Base, integration of the RADARSAT spacecraft with the launch vehicle and launch countdown activities. The Kennedy Space Center is responsible for the launch and countdown activities. The Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for the launch services contract with McDonnell Douglas. NOAA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will provide early on-orbit tracking support of the RADARSAT spacecraft.