PAZ to extend Airbus radar satellite constellation for improved monitoring capabilities by end of 2017

Friedrichshafen, 21 March 2017 – PAZ, the satellite owned by the Spanish company Hisdesat, will soon increase the monitoring resources of the Airbus radar satellites constellation. Following its launch during the last quarter of 2017, PAZ will be positioned in the same orbit as the German owned TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites and form a high-resolution SAR satellite constellation with them. The addition of this third satellite will reduce revisit time and increase acquisition capacity, leading to subsequent benefits to various applications. All three satellites will feature exactly identical ground swaths and acquisition modes. The new setup will be jointly exploited by Hisdesat and Airbus Defence and Space.

This SAR constellation will offer improved capabilities for precise monitoring of highly dynamic surface movements thanks to an interferometric repeat cycle reduced to an average of four to seven days, instead of eleven days currently. In addition, numerous data-intensive and time-critical tasks, as in the areas of defence and security, will directly benefit from this new constellation with daily revisits. Additionally, PAZ will also be equipped with an Automatic Identification System (AIS), allowing, for the first time, to simultaneously capture ships AIS signals and SAR imagery, increasing maritime domain monitoring capacities worldwide.

Airbus Defence and Space, as prime contractor, integrated the PAZ satellite at its facilities in Madrid, and was also responsible of the development of the radar instrument, leading a group of more than ten European companies. The SAR constellation will expand Airbus Defence and Space’s already broad constellation services also comprising the optical satellites SPOT 6/7, Pléiades 1A & 1B and the DMC Constellation.

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of € 67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number one space enterprise and the world’s second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.