SAOCOM (Satélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas, Spanish for Argentine Microwaves Observation Satellite) is an

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

of Argentina's

space agency This is a list of government agency, government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six govern ...

CONAE. Two satellites are already orbiting the Earth in a

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

. The second one was launched on 30 August 2020. CONAE contracted the company

INVAP INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers p ...

as main contractor for the project.

Configuration

The two satellites, SAOCOM 1A and SAOCOM 1B, both are equipped with an

L-band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

(about 1.275 GHz) full polarimetric

synthetic-aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

(SAR) to help predict and monitor the mitigation of natural disasters. Each satellite has a mass of .

History

Due to delays in the development of satellites, both launches were postponed for 2012 and 2013. Further delays pushed the launch dates back tentatively towards 2014 and 2015. By 2016, SAOCOM 1A was scheduled for launch in December 2016, and SAOCOM 1B in December 2017. In April 2016, the launch dates for SAOCOM 1A and SAOCOM 1B were further pushed back to October 2017 and October 2018. SAOCOM 1A was eventually launched on 8 October 2018 and SAOCOM 1B was launched on 30 August 2020.

SAOCOM 1A

SAOCOM 1A was launched on a

polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...

on 8 October 2018 at 02:21:28 UTC. The SAOCOM (Satélite Argentino de Observación Con Microondas) constellation comprises two

SAR satellites. The mission is headed by

Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE; in English, National Space Activities Commission) is the civilian agency of the government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme. History Sociedad Argentina Interplanetar ...

(CONAE).

is the prime contractor for the design and construction of the SAOCOM 1A spacecraft and its SAR payload. The SAOCOM 1A spacecraft benefit from the heritage of the SAC-C spacecraft platform.

Synthetic-aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

(SAR-L), an

L-Band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

instrument featuring standard, high resolution and global coverage operational modes with resolution ranging from 7 to 100 m, and swath within 50 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 The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...

channels at 150 Mbits/s each). The SAOCOM system operates jointly with the Italian

COSMO-SkyMed COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) is an Earth-observation satellite space-based radar system funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and Ministry of Defence and conducted by the It ...

constellation in

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.

SAOCOM 1B

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the SAOCOM 1B satellite for CONAE, Argentina's space agency, on 30 August 2020. SAOCOM 1B is the second of two SAOCOM 1-series

s designed to provide radar imagery to help emergency responders and monitor the environment, including the collection of soil moisture measurements. This mission was originally scheduled to launch January 2020 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California but was launched from Cape Canaveral on 30 August 2020 at 23:18 UTC which make it the first use of the southern

polar corridor Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates * Polar climate, the c ...

to reach orbit from the Cape Canaveral since 1969. SAOCOM-1b is in a

. Two small rideshare payloads are ridden into orbit with SAOCOM 1B. After releasing SAOCOM 1B around 14 minutes into the mission, the Falcon 9 deployed two smaller satellites named

GNOMES 1 A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its character ...

and Tyvak 0172 about an hour after liftoff, according to SpaceX.

Launch and operations

SAOCOM 1A was launched on 8 October 2018, at 02:22 UTC. The satellite was deployed into a

. The Falcon 9 rocket booster landed as planned at Landing Zone 4 at the

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...

, making it SpaceX's first land landing for a launch occurring on the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. The same orbit is used for SAOCOM 1B on launch from

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

, pad

SLC-40 Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), previously Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) is a launch pad for rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The launch pad was used by the United States Air Force for 55 Titan III ...

. This is an unusual launch from Cape Canaveral as the trajectory turned back to the west to skirt the southern coast of Florida and then fly over

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

for the

. The four-time-flown Falcon 9 rocket booster successfully landed as planned at

Landing Zone 1 Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land lea ...

at the

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

, just a few miles from the launch site. File:Salta_as_seen_by_SAOCOM_1B.jpg File:Tierra_del_Fuego_as_seen_by_SAOCOM_1B.jpg File:Valdes_Peninsula_as_seen_by_SAOCOM_1B.jpg

SIASGE constellation

These two satellites operate jointly with four

(~9.6 GHz) SAR-equipped

satellites from the

Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entit ...

(ASI), to form the ''Italian-Argentine System of Satellites for Emergency Management'' (Sistema Italo-Argentino de Satélites para la Gestión de Emergencias) (SIASGE) constellation. A successful design review was held at the Argentinian space centre Teófilo Tabanera near the city of

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province a ...

on 16 and 17 October 2012. In May 2015, the two agencies decided to expand the SIAGSE system by adding two additional COSMO-SkyMed ( CSG-1 and CSG-2) satellites and two additional SAOCOM satellites, SAOCOM 2A (launch in August 2028) and SAOCOM 2B (launch in August 2030). This would raise the SIAGSE constellation total number of satellites to 10.

References

External links

SAOCOM Official Website

SAOCOM.INVAP Official Website
(Argentina space program)
SAOCOM overview on earth online by ESA

SAOCOM infographic summary by ESA
{{Orbital launches in 2020 Satellites of Argentina 2018 in Argentina 2020 in Argentina Earth imaging satellites Space synthetic aperture radar SpaceX commercial payloads Spacecraft launched in 2018 Spacecraft launched in 2020 Twin satellites