Validation of the Feasibility of Implementing Spotlight SAR Mode in the NEXTSat-2 and Ka-Band Satellite

Abstract

The Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) plans to launch the next-generation small satellite-2 (NEXTSat-2) at the end of this year or early next year. NEXTSat-2 (N2) will be equipped with an X-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with a resolution of 5m, and strip-map mode and scan mode will be implemented. However, preparations for spotlight mode that can obtain high-resolution images are currently very insufficient. Therefore, this paper validated the feasibility of implementing spotlight mode in N2 by performing a point target simulation in consideration of its system parameters. Through point target analysis, image resolution and peak-to-sidelobe ratio (PSLR) performance were derived when implementing spotlight mode in N2. Otherwise, it is advantageous in terms of image resolution to use high frequency for SAR images. However, in the case of the satellite platforms, it is difficult to use frequencies that are higher than X-Band. Considerations for using the Ka-Band frequency in N3 or N4 to be developed later are presented.