The German military commissioned its first spy-in-the-sky satellite system on Thursday, Dec. 4 enabling it to peek through clouds or the darkness of night at any spot on the planet. The synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system uses five satellites that bounce radar pulses off the earth. Sophisticated computers convert the returning signals into a picture of the ground that can resolve features just 50 centimeters in width. Germany is to share the data with France, which operates Helios II military satellites that photograph the ground in the daytime. The 350-million-euro ($445-million) German system, code- named SAR-Lupe, became operational in the summer and was officially handed over to the military Thursday by the builders, OHB System. The ground station is in the town of Grafschaft. Defense officials said Germany will be able to take radar pictures of any place at about 10 hours' notice, the time it takes for a satellite to arrive overhead and for the picture to be compiled.
The synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system uses five satellites that bounce radar pulses off the earth. Sophisticated computers convert the returning signals into a picture of the ground that can resolve features just 50 centimeters in width.
Germany is to share the data with France, which operates Helios II military satellites that photograph the ground in the daytime.
The 350-million-euro ($445-million) German system, code- named SAR-Lupe, became operational in the summer and was officially handed over to the military Thursday by the builders, OHB System. The ground station is in the town of Grafschaft.
Defense officials said Germany will be able to take radar pictures of any place at about 10 hours' notice, the time it takes for a satellite to arrive overhead and for the picture to be compiled.
Germany is to share the data with France
Interesting... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
France and Germany are also jointly operating the Graves radar, which is a ground-based satellite tracker. They've used it to strong-arm the US administration into no longer disclosing the position of all non-US spy satellites as part of a "debris watch" program (by threatening to disclose the orbits of US spy satellites in retaliation). Pierre
