SAOCOM

SAOCOM (Satélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas, Spanish for Argentine Microwaves Observation Satellite) is an Earth observation satellite constellation of Argentina's space agency CONAE. The first of two satellites is already orbiting the Earth in a polar orbit, while the second one is planned to be launched in 2020.

SAOCOM
Mockup of the SAOCOM satellite.
Mission typeEarth-observation satellites
OperatorCONAE
COSPAR ID2018-076A (SAOCOM-1A)
SATCAT no.43641
Website
Mission duration5 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSAOCOM
BusSAC-C
ManufacturerINVAP
Launch mass3000 kg
Dry mass1600 kg
Start of mission
Launch date8 October 2018, 02:21 UTC (SAOCOM 1A)
August 2020 (SAOCOM 1B) (planned)
RocketFalcon 9
Launch siteVandenberg Air Force Base, SLC-4E (SAOCOM 1A)
CCAFS, SLC-40 (SAOCOM 1B)
ContractorSpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Altitude620 km
Inclination97.89°
Period97.2 minutes
Repeat interval16 days
Epoch8 October 2018
 

CONAE contracted the company INVAP as main contractor for the project.

Configuration

The two satellites, SAOCOM 1A and SAOCOM 1B, both are equipped with an L band (about 1.275 GHz) full polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to help predict and monitor the mitigation of natural disasters. Each satellite has a mass of 3,000 kg (6,600 lb).[1]

History
The satellite SAOCOM 1A at CEATSA in July 2018.

Due to delays in the development of satellites, both launches were postponed for 2012 and 2013.[2] Further delays pushed the launch dates back tentatively towards 2014 and 2015.[3] By 2016, SAOCOM 1A was scheduled for launch in December 2016,[4] and SAOCOM 1B in December 2017.[5] In April 2016, the launch dates for 1A and 1B were further pushed back to October 2017 and October 2018.[6] In August 2018, SAOCOM 1A was scheduled for launch on 7 October 2018[7] and SAOCOM 1B some time in 2020.[8] Both satellites were to be launched on Falcon 9 rockets[9] together with additional secondary payloads.[10]

SAOCOM 1A

INVAP is the prime contractor for the design and construction of the SAOCOM spacecrafts and its SAR payloads. The SAOCOM-1A spacecraft benefit from the heritage of the SAC-C spacecraft platform.[11]

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR-L), an L-Band instrument featuring standard, high resolution and global coverage operational modes with resolution ranging from 7 m to 100 m, and swath within 50 km to 400 km. It features a dedicated high capacity Solid State Recorder (50 to 100 Gbits) for image storage, and a high bit rate downlink system (two X-band channels at 150 Mbits/s each).[11]

The SAOCOM system operates jointly with the Italian COSMO-SkyMed constellation in X-band to provide frequent information relevant for emergency management. This approach of a two SAOCOM and a four COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft configuration offers an effective means of a twice-daily coverage capability. By joining forces, both agencies are able to generate SAR products in X-band and in L-band for their customers.[11]

SAOCOM 1B

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the SAOCOM 1B satellite for CONAE, Argentina's space agency. SAOCOM 1B is the second of two SAOCOM 1-series Earth observation satellites designed to provide radar imagery to help emergency responders and monitor the environment, including the collection of soil moisture measurements. Delayed from January 2020. This mission was originally scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. But SAOCOM B will be launched from Cape Canaveral.[12]

Launch and operations

SAOCOM 1A was launched on 8 October 2018, at 02:22 UTC. The satellite was deployed into a Sun-synchronous orbit.[13] The Falcon 9 rocket booster landed as planned at Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, making it SpaceX's first land landing for a launch occurring on the Pacific coast.[13]

The same orbit is planned to be used for SAOCOM 1B on launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, since the pad SLC-40 in August 2020.

SIASGE constellation

The two satellites, also carry four X band (~9.6 GHz) SAR-equipped COSMO-SkyMed satellites from the Italian Space Agency (ASI), that will form the Italian-Argentine System of Satellites for Emergency Management (Sistema Italo-Argentino de Satélites para la Gestión de Emergencias) (SIASGE) constellation.[14] A successful design review was held at the Argentinian space centre Teófilo Tabanera near the Cordoba City on 16 and 17 October 2012. In May 2015, the two agencies decided to expand the SIAGSE system by adding two additional COSMO-SkyMed satellites and two additional SAOCOM satellites, 2A and 2B. This would raise the SIAGSE constellation total number of satellites to 10.

References
  1. "INVAP - SAOCOM satellites" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. "SPACEX SIGNS ARGENTINA'S SPACE AGENCY FOR TWO FALCON 9 LAUNCHES". Space Exploration Technologies Corp. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. "Launch manifest". SpaceX. 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  4. "Mission Summary - SAOCOM 1A". CEOS. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. "Mission Summary - SAOCOM 1B". CEOS. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  6. "Exitosa Revisión de la Misión SAOCOM" (in Spanish). CONAE. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. Clark, Stephen (27 August 2018). "Launch schedule". SpaceFlight Now. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  8. "Agencias espaciales del mundo debatieron en Buenos Aires cómo prevenir catástrofes naturales" [Space agencies of the world will debate in Buenos Aires how to predict natural disasters]. Los Andes (in Spanish). 8 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017. Este sistema ítalo-argentino estará completo cuando se lancen los dos satélites SAOCOM 1A y SAOCOM 1B, que serán puestos en órbita en junio de 2018 y a comienzos de 2019, respectivamente.
  9. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/saocom-1.htm
  10. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/itasat-1.htm
  11. "SAOCOM 1A". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 27 February 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
  14. Arias, Daniel E. (9 June 2007). "Ya en órbita, el satélite Cosmo-Skymed da sus primeros signos de vida" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.