A German radar
reconnaissance satellite vaulted into space from a Russian launch site Monday,
beginning a mission to collect high-resolution imagery of nearly every location
on Earth for up to ten years.
The craft is the second
member of a five-satellite fleet of military spy satellites under development by
Germany. A large X-band radar dish antenna on each satellite can gather precise
images through clouds and darkness.
The constellation uses
synthetic aperture radar technology, which sends radio beams toward the ground.
The pulses are reflected back into space from Earth's surface, and a receiver
on the satellite collects the data.
Specialists on the ground
can turn the data into detailed images for use by the German Defense Ministry.
Officials project the satellite's images will allow analysts to see objects
smaller than one meter, or about three feet.
SAR-Lupe 2 was launched
aboard a Kosmos 3M rocket at 1938:41 GMT (3:38:41 p.m. EDT) from the Plesetsk
Cosmodrome in northern Russia. After about a half-hour of powered flight, the
rocket left the 1,700-pound spacecraft in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an
altitude of about 300 miles.
The blastoff was postponed
24 hours from Sunday due to unfavorable upper level winds, project officials
said in a statement.
Plans call for the
spacecraft to deploy its radar antenna in a couple of days, and the German
military will take control of the satellite in a few weeks to begin imaging
operations.
The satellite was built by
lead contractor OHB-System, a company based in Bremen, Germany. A group of
European aerospace companies manufactured the craft's radar system.
The SAR-Lupe fleet's first
satellite was launched in December and remains healthy, according to
OHB-System.
Three additional satellites
for the system will be launched in four-month intervals over the next year.
Officials expect the constellation to be at full strength by the end of next
year.
The SAR-Lupe program is
part of a joint agreement between Germany and France to share data from each
nation's spy satellite system.
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