(Globes) Yuval Azulai - Israel Aerospace Industries and U.S. company XpressSAR have signed a memorandum of understanding on the purchase of three advanced radar-based surveillance satellites that work in tandem. The satellites will make it possible to gather intelligence at any hour of the day, including in cloudy weather and sandstorms, which make intelligence gathering using optical spy satellites difficult. IAI will manufacture the satellites in its space plant in Yehud and provide support services for launching, putting them into their predetermined orbit, the ground stations at which the output will be received, and more, until they are fully operational. "We are glad to cooperate with IAI, which offers a complete intelligence system using SAR satellites," XpressSAR CEO Wolfgang Biedermann said Tuesday. "The advanced proven technological capabilities of these satellites will enable us to provide our future customers with the best-quality intelligence products." SAR technology is regarded as the cutting edge of spy satellites. Satellites utilizing SAR technology identify objects that optical satellites have trouble identifying, such as metal objects and objects obstructed by darkness, providing observation of any point of interest at all hours of the day or night. "They include the ability to detect changes in ground contours and the arrival of vehicles at a given point, and they do all of this automatically," says IAI space division general manager Opher Doron.
2018-11-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive