The most advanced SAR Constellation
The COSMO-SkyMed system is the unique constellation of four radar satellites for Earth Observation; it is founded by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence.
COSMO-SkyMed is at the forefront of technology and uses high-resolution radar sensors to observe the Earth day and night, regardless of weather conditions.
Its purpose is to monitor the Earth for the sake of emergency prevention, strategy, scientific and commercial purposes, providing data on a global scale to support a variety of applications among which risk management, forest & environment protection, natural resources exploration, land management, defense and security, maritime surveillance, food & agriculture management.
A new generation of COSMO-SkyMed radar satellites is coming.
The COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation is at the forefront of radar technologies and will ensure improvements and guarantee continuity with the first generation satellites, preserving the high quality and the highest precision features, both required for the interferometric activities.
The programme is funded by Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Scientific Research.
Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor responsible for the construction of two satellites, while Telespazio provides the ground segment and offers integrated logistics for operations.
e-GEOS is the world-wide exclusive distributor of COSMO-SkyMed and operates, on behalf of ASI, the IC-UGS (Italian Civilian User Ground Segment) at the Matera Space Center.
The COSMO-SkyMed satellite main payload is an X-band, multi-resolution and multi-polarisation imaging radar, with various resolutions (from 1 to 100 meters) over a large access region. It is equipped with a fixed antenna, having electronic steering capabilities that can manage a large number of operative modes for the image acquisition and for internal calibrations. The nominal incidence angles (where the system grants the image quality requested) vary between 20° and 59°.
e-GEOS is the world-wide exclusive distributor of COSMO-SkyMed and operates, on behalf of ASI, the IC-UGS (Italian Civilian User Ground Segment) at the Matera Space Center.
At least 4 acquisitions / day (@ equator):
- 1 left looking and 1 right looking early morning (ASCENDING, approx. 6 AM local time)
- 1 left looking and 1 right looking late afternoon (DESCENDING, approx. 6 PM local time)
Every Dot On The Map Represents A Site Where Hundreds Of Interferometric Images Have Been Collected.