The RADARSAT II mission:: An update towards an end-to-end system performance

In March 1998, the Canadian Space Agency awarded the RADARSAT II contract to MACDONALD DETTWILER ASSOCIATES (MDA). This was a second step, after the creation of RADARSAT INTERNATIONAL (RSI), toward the establishment of a fully commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing service. The RADARSAT II mission will ensure the continuity of the RADARSAT I data and products and will open new market applications. The RADARSAT II satellite will carry a C-band SAR offering multiple modes of operation including quad polarization, 3-meter high resolution and right or left looking imaging mode. All RADARSAT I modes will be supported to ensure data continuity. The satellite will be placed on the same orbit than RADARSAT I to ensure data continuity. If RADARSAT I remain in operation for 7.5 years, as it is now projected, there will be a period of time where both satellites will be operated in tandem. Accordingly, the ground infrastructure and data order system must be designed to meet customer requirements in a timely manner. To evaluate the system performance, CSA is developing an analysis tool to simulate the operation of a multisatellite SAR system. This paper describes the structure of the tool and how it is used to assess the end-to-end performance of the system.