New Satellite-to-Ship Services Will Be Added to MDA Chorus
New Satellite-to-Ship Services Will Be Added to MDA Chorus
Adds On-Board Processing to Synthetic Aperture Radar Services
A new vessel detection onboard processing system (VDOP) for disseminating geointelligence information at sea has been unveiled by MDA Space. The new direct satellite-to-ship service will be a key feature of MDA CHORUS, offering defense and intelligence organizations rapid access to the data and insights they need to support critical and time-sensitive maritime defense and security missions – including countering piracy, narcotics smuggling, illegal fishing and human trafficking.
"(T)he capability of MDA CHORUS to process and exploit radar data onboard the satellite will significantly reduce the time required to get actionable maritime domain awareness information into the hands of our mission critical customers."
Mike Greenley, MDA Space
Traditionally, the processing of satellite radar data and vessel detection and analysis has been performed on the ground. With the new MDA CHORUS VDOP capability, raw signal data will be collected and processed onboard the satellite to better perform vessel detection and rapidly deliver geointelligence data and information direct to users at sea.
"Built on our ... RADARSAT technology, the capability of MDA CHORUS to process and exploit radar data onboard the satellite will significantly reduce the time required to get actionable maritime domain awareness information into the hands of our mission critical customers," said Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space. "We invite defense and intelligence users globally to partner with us in this pre-launch period to customize configuration to meet their specific national and international mission objectives."
A collaborative multi-sensor constellation launching in Q4 2025, MDA CHORUS will bring together diverse and unique imagery and data sources and provide a new level of near real-time insight and innovative Earth observation services. From an industry-leading 700km-wide (≈435 miles) imaging swath down to sub-meter high resolution, MDA CHORUS will provide the most extensive and unrivaled Earth observation radar imaging capacity available on the market in a single mission.
Operating in a unique mid-inclination orbit, MDA CHORUS will be able to image day or night, regardless of weather conditions, with daily access of up to 95% of the coverage area.