Capella Space Wins US Air Force SAR Contract

An artist rendition of a Capella SAR satellite. Photo: Capella

Capella Space was awarded a contract with the U.S. Air Force to apply Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to the military branch’s virtual reality software for the purpose of simulating potential adversary scenarios, support missile defense, and create predictive intelligence to help foresee foreign threats. Capella will also supply an in-house analytics service to deliver change detection and object identification.

With the launch of its 36 small satellite constellation, Capella aims to deliver on-demand SAR imagery of anywhere on Earth on a high cadence to create a new space imaging tool for commerce, conservation, and security. Capella is scheduled to launch its first operational satellite in Q1 2020 and will deliver 0.5m very high resolution SAR data to the U.S. Air Force, as well as several additional international government and commercial customers.

“Capella will work alongside the U.S. Air Force to foster collaboration and deliver a product that best suits their mission needs,” said Capella Space Vice President of Government Services Dan Brophy. “Timely SAR data that presents changes on Earth holds tremendous military value, and we will make adaptations to meet unique military requirements. Together with the Air Force, we will define the applications for this data in its hybrid, military and commercial space architecture.”