RADARSAT-2 Mission

Objectives and Applications

Environmental monitoring, physical oceanography, ice and snow, land surface. Note: Ownership of RADARSAT-2 has been transferred to MDA Corporation. CSA investment in the project is paid back with the data generated by the satellite since it entered operations.

Mission Summary

Full Name
RADARSAT-2
Mission Status
Operational (nominal)
Mission Agencies
CSA, MDA
Launch Date
14 Dec 2007
Mission Links
EOL Date
Apr 2026
EO Portal Info

Orbit Details

Orbit Type
Sun-synchronous
Orbit Period
100.7 minutes
Orbit Sense
Ascending
Orbit Inclination
98.6 deg
Orbit Altitude
798 km
Orbit Longitude
Orbit LST
18:00
Repeat Cycle
24 days
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator

Mission Instruments

SAR (RADARSAT-2) - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band

Mission Measurements

CategoryParameterInstrument(s)
AtmosphereAtmospheric Winds SAR (RADARSAT-2)
LandAlbedo and reflectance SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Landscape topography SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Soil moisture SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Vegetation SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Multi-purpose imagery (land) SAR (RADARSAT-2)
OceanOcean topography/currents SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Ocean surface winds SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Ocean wave height and spectrum SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Multi-purpose imagery (ocean) SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Snow & IceIce sheet topography SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Snow cover, edge and depth SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Sea ice cover, edge and thickness SAR (RADARSAT-2)

Featured Datasets

RADARSAT-1/2 Full Archive and Tasking
Jan-2013
The RADARSAT programme consists of a pair of Canadian remote-sensing satellites. RADARSAT-1 was Canada’s first commercial EO satellite and was developed to monitor the planet’s natural resources and environmental changes. It was equipped with a SAR instrument that could be steered to collect data over a 1,175 km wide area using seven beam modes. RADARSAT-2 provides continuity from RADARSAT-1 and has the objectives of developing an EO satellite business through a private sector-led arrangement with the federal government and offering data for new applications tailored to market needs. ESA offers access to worldwide RADARSAT archived data via the TPM scheme. - Read more
RADARSAT-2 ESA Archive
Jan-2007
The RADARSAT programme consists of a pair of Canadian remote-sensing satellites. RADARSAT-2 provides continuity from RADARSAT-1 and has the objectives of developing an EO satellite business through a private sector-led arrangement with the federal government and offering data for new applications tailored to market needs. The collection is composed by the copy of products requested by ESA supported projects over their areas of interest around the world, and access is provided through the TPM scheme. - Read more