PredaSAR 1, ..., 48

PredaSAR [Tyvak]

PredaSAR, a subsidiary of Terran Orbital, plans to establish an 48, later increased to 96, advanced commercial SAR satellite constellation for delivering high resolution SAR imagery both military and commercial customers.

PredaSAR spacecraft employ an advanced, proprietary radar payload to create 2D Synthetic Aperture Radar images, 3D reconstructions of objects and the Earth’s surface, and customer-tailored data products. SAR satellites provide high-resolution images at any time of day and in any weather condition, overcoming natural limitations of traditional optical satellites.

Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc., another subsidiary of Terran Orbital, is the launch integration provider in addition to manufacturer of the spacecraft.

These satellites are tactical, agile Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) microsatellites. Their payload consists of a large swath C-Band or high-power spot and Strip X-Band system.

The payload can also be usilized to passively scan for RF activity (SIGINT).

PredaSAR has selected SpaceX to orbit the first satellite on a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) ride-share mission in 2021. They are also in negotiation with SpaceX to launch the remaining satellites of the constellation.

In April 2022, Terran Orbial doubled the constellation size to 96 satellites. Later in fall 2022, they announced that the PredaSAR program was put on hold, and only two satellites will be launched as prototypes, while the overall plan for the PredaSAR constellation is changing without giving a new number of satellites or a schedule.