Lightweight, plug-and-play airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload for multirotor and VTOL fixed-wing drones and manned aircraft, available in Ku/X/C/L band variants.
MiniSAR Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar System
Lightweight, plug-and-play airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload for multirotor and VTOL fixed-wing drones and manned aircraft, available in Ku/X/C/L band variants.
Description
MiniSAR is Smart Satellite Technology's third-generation lightweight airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload, designed as a plug-and-play, all-weather, day/night imaging solution for multirotor drones, VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, and manned aircraft. Unlike optical payloads, SAR is an active microwave sensing system that is unaffected by cloud cover, smoke, or darkness, closing the observation-window gap left by electro-optical sensors. The system supports multiple frequency bands (Ku, X, C, and L), multiple polarizations, and multiple incidence angles to produce high-resolution radar imagery of ground targets, with some cloud/fog penetration capability. Onboard processing and a real-time data link allow the system to generate SAR imagery in flight and stream it synchronously to a ground station. The MiniSAR family is offered in three product configurations: a fully integrated flight-data-collection service, a combined SAR payload plus UAV flight platform package, and a standalone SAR payload/system for integration onto a customer's own aircraft. Supported imaging modes include stripmap, spotlight, full-polarization, and Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI), with single-, dual-, and full-polarization real-time imaging. The system is characterized by low weight, small volume, low power consumption, and high integration, and is designed to be adaptable to both small and medium UAV platforms. Smart Satellite Technology holds in-house R&D and batch-production capability for lightweight airborne MiniSAR systems and states its third-generation real-time-imaging, multi-polarization MiniSAR achieves better than 0.1 m resolution, which the company positions as internationally leading for this payload class.
Specifications
| Frequency band | Ku / X / C (L-band variant also offered) |
|---|---|
| Center frequency (Ku) | 14.6 GHz |
| Center frequency (X) | 9.6 GHz |
| Center frequency | 5.3 GHz C |
| Radar type (Ku) | FMCW / pulsed |
| Radar type (X) | Pulsed |
| Radar type | Pulsed |
| Max signal bandwidth (Ku) | 1.2 GHz (FMCW) / 1.8 GHz (pulsed) |
| Max signal bandwidth (X) | 1.8 GHz |
| Max signal bandwidth | 600 MHz C |
| Imaging modes | Stripmap / Spotlight / Full-polarization / GMTI |
| Polarization | Full polarization (HH/HV/VH/VV) |
| Maximum resolution (Ku, X) | ≤0.1 m |
| Maximum resolution | ≤0.5 m C |
| Max operating range | ≥8 km |
| Max swath width | ≥3 km |
| Real-time imaging | Supported (Ku, X, C) |
| System total weight (Ku) | ≤5.2 kg |
| System total weight (X) | ≤3 kg (phased array) / ≤5.7 kg (2-axis gimbal) |
| System total weight | ≤6.0 kg C |
| Product forms | Flight data collection service / SAR payload + UAV platform package / standalone SAR payload |
| Platform compatibility | Multirotor and VTOL fixed-wing drones, manned aircraft |
