The TerraSAR-X Satellite Project

S. Buckreuss1, W. Balzer2, P. Mhlbauer3

R. Werninghaus

Microwaves and Radar Institute

German Remote Sensing Data Center
3
German Space Operations Center
1, 2, 3,
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
1, 2, 3
D-82230 Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Stefan.Buckreuss@dlr.de

Space Flight Mgnt., Project Directorate Earth Observation

German Aerospace Center (DLR)
D-53227 Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany

W. Pitz
Astrium GmbH
D-88039 Friedrichshafen, Germany
Wolfgang.Pitz@astrium-space.com

AbstractThe objective of TerraSAR-X is the setup of an

operational space borne X-Band SAR system in order to produce
remote sensing products for commercial and scientific use. The
TerraSAR-X project is conducted under the aegis of the DLR
Space Flight Management and comprises a space and a ground
segment. The space segment is designed and built by ASTRIUM
GmbH, the ground segment is set up by several institutions of
DLR, namely the German Remote Sensing Data Center, the
Remote Sensing Technology Institute, the German Space
Operations Center and the Microwaves and Radar Institute.
Keywords: TerraSAR-X, X-Band, space segment, ground
segment, Mission Operations Segment, Payload Ground Segment,
Instrument Operations and Calibration

I.

INTRODUCTION

TerraSAR-X [1] is a new generation, high resolution radar

satellite operating in the X-Band at 9.65 GHz. In 2005, the
TerraSAR-X satellite will be injected by a Russian/Ukrainian
Dnepr-1 launch vehicle into a circular, sun-synchronous 514
km dawn-dusk orbit. After an in-orbit commissioning period
of approximately 5 months, in which the SAR instrument will
be calibrated and the system performance will be verified,
TerraSAR-X will be fully operational for an active lifetime of
5 years.
The project will open a large potential for the scientific
utilization of radar data and simultaneously will mark a
milestone for sustained commercial exploitation of remote
sensing data.
The German Aerospace Center DLR and the ASTRIUM
GmbH have agreed on an innovative co-operation scheme for
the implementation of Earth observation satellites by realizing
Germany's first Earth observation space project based on
public-private partnership with considerable contribution of
industry. DLR will be responsible for its scientific use while
exclusive commercial marketing of the geo-information
gathered will be carried out by Infoterra GmbH
(Friedrichshafen), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astrium.
The new radar sensor is designed with phased array
technology, which allows the flexible adjustment of various
operational modes. This includes imagery with Polarimetry,
high geometric resolution and also the imagery of large areas

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with up to 100 km swath width and reduced resolution

independent from daytime and weather.
TerraSAR-X will be an operational satellite that will
provide us with a continuous stream of remote sensing data for
at least 5 years. DLR as the project lead supervises the space
segment development and is providing also the mission
operations, ground stations and the data processing and
archiving. The derived products will support numerous
scientific and commercial application fields. The satellite will
provide unique data, leading to new applications and methods
in geo-sciences, as there are in the solid earth's physics the
observation of minor tectonic shifting, in hydrology the
modeling of catchment areas, in climatology the quantifying of
global biomass and changes in the ice coverage of the poles
and in oceanography the measurement of ocean currents.
II.

SPACE SEGMENT

The TerraSAR-X Space Segment is based on a combination of

the technologies developed within the scope of DLR-funded
radar programmes like X-SAR, SRTM, DESA and TOPAS
and the hardware and processes established in the DLRsupported small satellite missions CHAMP and GRACE. The
TerraSAR-X satellite is fully one failure tolerant and based on
a mission-tailored AstroBus service module and a radar
instrument developed according to the AstroSAR concept.
A. Bus
The hexagonal outer shape of the spacecraft, with a total
height of ~5m and a diameter of ~2.4 m, is mainly driven by
the accommodation of the X-Band Radar Instrument, the body
mounted solar array
and the geometrical
limitations given by the
Dnepr-1
launcher
fairing. Besides the
SAR Instrument, two
additional payloads are
accommodated
on
TSX,
the
Laser
Communication
Figure 1. TerraSAR-X outer shape
Terminal (LCT) funded
by DLR and developed

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by TESAT and the Tracking, Occultation and Ranging

Experiment (TOR) furnished by GFZ Potsdam and the
University of Texas at Austin.
Three sides of the hexagon are populated with electronics
equipment, whereof the sun-facing side is additionally
carrying the solar generator. The SAR antenna is mounted on
one of the hexagon sides, which in flight attitude points 33,8
off nadir. The other nadir looking side is reserved for the
accommodation of an S-band TT&C antenna, a SAR data
downlink antenna - carried by a long boom in order to avoid
RF interferences during simultaneous radar imaging and data
transmission to ground - and a Laser Retro Reflector to
support precise orbit determination. The deep-space looking
surface is used for LCT and as thermal radiator. The total wet
mass of the satellite is ~1200 kg.
B. Instrument
The TerraSAR-X SAR instrument is an active phased array XBand system with a centre frequency of 9.65GHz and a
bandwidth of 300 MHz. The antenna (FE) is capable of
operation in two polarisations, H and V and consists of 12
panels with 32 dual polarised slotted waveguide subarrays
arranged in elevation each with a dedicated Transmit/Receive
Module. The SAR antenna approximate dimensions are
4800 mm in length, 800 mm in width and 150 mm in depth.
Beam steering in azimuth ( 0,75) and elevation ( 20) is
performed by the Antenna Control Electronics Unit (ACE),
which provides programmable real-time control of antenna
beam shape, pointing and polarisation in transmission and
reception. The ~4,5 kW of electrical power required by the
antenna during imaging is provided by a low-loss 115V/30
kHz AC system. The Digital Control Electronics (DCE)
provides amongst others the instrument timing, digital chirp
generation, AD conversion and by-passable Block Adaptive
Quantisation to reduce the onboard data rate. The Radio
Frequency Electronics (RFE) contains the Ultra Stable
Oscillator (USO), the up- and down conversion and preamplifying stages and provides programmable signals for
internal calibration.
Generated SAR data are stored in a Solid State Mass Memory
Unit (SSMM) of 256 Gbit EOL capacity before they are
transmitted to ground via a 300 Mbit/s X-Band System
(XDA).
An internal calibration scheme provides data for on-ground
derivation of replicas for range compression to give high
spatial resolution. The internal calibration data also allows for
on-ground correction of the raw radar data due to variations in
instrument amplitude (ie. gain) and phase to achieve high
radiometric and phase stability.
The SAR instrument is capable of operation in three basic
modes: Stripmap, ScanSAR and Spotlight Mode.
The Spotlight Mode is based on sliding spotlight operation.
Compared to starring spotlight operation, sliding spotlight has
the advantage of more uniform NESZ performance achieved
in along-track direction due to the averaging of the gain
variation of the main beam in azimuth [3].
The performance data for each mode are presented in Table I.

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The SAR instrument elements are fully redundant, i.e. a main

and a redundant functional chain exists. It is possible to
activate both functional chains at the same time, one being the
master for timing purposes. This allows operation in Dual
Receive Antenna (DRA) Mode where the echoes from the
azimuth antenna halves can be received and then separated
during ground processing, e.g. to serve the application of
Along Track Interferometry [4].
TABLE I.

TERRASAR-X PERFORMANCE
Stripmap

ScanSAR

< 1500 km

<1500km

15 km, 1pol
30 km, 2pol

100 km

Geom. Resolution
along track

< 3 m, 1pol
< 6 m, 2pol

16 m
@ 1 look

Geom. Resolution
accross track
Abs. Radiom. Accur.
Noise equiv. 0 @ 45
Ambiguity Ratio

< 3 m, 1pol
< 6 m, 2pol
< 1 dB
< -19 dB
< -17 dB

16 m
@ 4 lks

< 1,0 m, 1pol, hi-res

< 2,0 m, 2pol, hi-res
< 2,0 m, 1pol, spot
< 4,0 m, 2pol, spot
< 1,2 m, 1pol
< 2,4 m, 2pol

< -19 dB
< -17 dB

< -19 dB
< -17 dB

Product Coverage
along track
Product Coverage
accross track

III.

Spotlight
5 km, hi-res
10 km, spot
10 km

GROUND SEGMENT

The overall TerraSAR-X Ground Segment and service infrastructure, which can be considered as interface between the
Space Segment provided by Astrium and the User Segment is
the central element for controlling and operating the
TerraSAR-X satellite, for calibrating its SAR instrument, and
for generating basic data products. The overall TerraSAR-X
ground segment and service infrastructure consists of two
major parts,

the ground segment which is provided by DLR and

the exploitation and service infrastructure coordinated

through Infoterra.
The DLR Ground Segment is composed of three major
elements,

the Mission Operations Segment (MOS) provided by the

German Space Operation Center (GSOC),

the Instrument Operation and Calibration Segment

(IOCS) provided by the Microwaves and Radar Institute
(HR), and

the Payload Ground Segment (PGS) provided by the

Cluster Applied Remote Sensing consisting of the
German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) and the
Remote Sensing Technology Institute (MF).
A. Mission Operations Segment
The Mission Operation Segment shall operate from the
German
Space
Operations
Center
(GSOC)
in
Oberpfaffenhofen. The neighbouring Weilheim ground station
shall be used for all routine TT&C activities. The main
functions of the MOS are:

Provision of S-Band TT&C ground station networks

suitable for the various mission phases: The station in
Weilheim is used for routine activities. Additional stations
are utilized during LEOP and for contingencies.

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Provision of a Central Checkout System (CCS) for

satellite checkout during AIVT: The CCS provides an
interface to the satellite or to a simulator during spacecraft
AIVT. Development and test platform for various MOS
elements (e.g. TM / TC / Display system).
Satellite Monitoring and Control: Telemetry processing
and monitoring, commanding, housekeeping data
processing and archiving, data distribution.
Mission Planning & Scheduling: Daily planning of space
and ground segment activities and generation of
command sequences.
Key Management: Generation and distribution of
encryption / decryption keys, according to the planned
data acquisitions and downlinks.
Flight Dynamics: Orbit and attitude determination, orbit
prediction, maneuver planning.

B. Instrument Operations and Calibration Segment

1) Instrument Operations
The Instrument Operations comprises the following tasks:

Radar
Parameter
Generation
and
Instrument
Commanding: Based on user input, the mission planning
system generates requests for data takes. Each request
will be analyzed and the appropriate sequence of radar
parameters expressed as engineering values (PRF, DWP,
etc.) will be generated. This sequence will be transformed
into macro commands by the command generator and
finally transferred into the instrument binary language.

Instrument Monitoring: Housekeeping values which are

downlinked via S-Band have to be checked and analyzed
both, automatically and manually, to examine instrument
health.

Data Take Verification: The correct execution of the

commanded data take is verified via the correlation of the
monitored instrument operation with the commanded
sequence and an examination whether statistics and
prominent radar parameters of acquired data are within
margins.
2) Calibration Segment
The calibration relates the SAR image intensity to radar
backscattering coefficients and provides information about the
accuracy of this relationship. Estimation and removal of all
system-related influences results in pure object signatures. The
goal is to model the relationship between geophysical
parameters and measured backscattering coefficients. Such
quantitative analyses and the development and interpretation
of models in different geophysical applications require
calibrated data.
The overall system calibration includes:

Compensation/correction of known system errors in

amplitude and phase

Georeferenced transformation of SAR image data to

backscatter coefficients within an estimated error

Internal calibration

External calibration

Accomplishment of calibration campaigns

Development and procurement of calibration targets

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Calibration evaluation
Delivery of a calibration file for processing to the PGS
As TerraSAR-X will be an operational scientific mission with
commercial potential, product quality is of paramount
importance. Together with service reliability it will largely
decide the success or failure of the mission.
C. Payload Ground Segment

1) Multi-mission Ground Segment Infrastructure

The Multi-mission ground segment infrastructure of the
German Remote Sensing Data Center consists of

the S/X-Band receiving stations in Neustrelitz and

the distributed Data and Information Management System

DIMS composed of systems in Neustrelitz and Oberpfaffenhofen with central User Services located there.
2) SAR Processing Suite
The SAR processing suite consists of three processors:

the TerraSAR-X Multi-mode SAR Processor TMSP which

will be integrated and operated in Neustrelitz to routinely
screen all SAR data received in Neustrelitz and to
generate L0 products for long-term archiving as well as
basic products on request

the TerraSAR Verification Mode Processor TVSP for

software development and maintenance, verification
support for all SAR instrument operational modes, the
validation and quality assurance of all basic products

the TerraSAR-X Validation Geocoding Processor TVGP

for software development and maintenance, for the
validation of geocoded products, and for the precise
geocoding of high resolution SAR data for science
applications.
3) Data and Information Management System
The Data and Information Management challenge of the
TerraSAR-X scenario is the satellite in the loop, i.e. a user
can order a future product which has to be specified, planned,
commanded, acquired, received, processed, archived and
delivered. The TerraSAR-X payload ground segment is in
charge of the payload data reception, management, processing
and the organization of the business process ordering
including user information services and delivery. Therefore,
the data and information management plays a major role in the
PGS environment. As a core the Data and Information
Management System (DIMS) is used, having interfaces to all
other subsystems, the external ground segment components
(MOS and IOCS) and the user.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]

[3]

[4]

M. Suess, S. Riegger , W. Pitz, R. Werninghaus, TERRASAR-X

Design and Performance, Proc. of EUSAR2002, Kln, Germany.
Mittermayer J., Alberga V., Buckreuss S., Riegger S., TerraSAR-X:
Predicted Performance, Proc. SPIE 2002, Vol. 4881, Agia Pelagia,
Crete, Greece, 22 - 27 September 2002.
Mittermayer J., Lord R., Boerner E., Sliding Spotlight SAR Processing
for TerraSAR-X Using a New Formulation of the Extended Chirp
Scaling Algorithm, proc. IGARSS 2003, Toulouse, 2003, in press.
Mittermayer J., Runge H., Conceptual Studies for Exploiting the
TerraSAR-X Dual Receiving Antenna, proc. IGARSS 2003, Toulouse,
2003, in press.

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