RADARSAT Constellation Mission

This illustration provides a visual overview of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), Canada's new generation of Earth observation satellites. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)

This infographic presents information about the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. It features an image of Earth with three satellites orbiting it.

Information is presented in nine bubbles:

• Three identical satellites working together
• Main uses are monitoring of the environment, oceans and ice; support to emergency teams during natural disasters; and ship detection.
• The satellites launched in spring 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
• Approximately 250,000 images per year will be used. That is 50 times more than the first generation of RADARSAT.
• The satellites travel at a speed of 27,200 km per hour and take about 96 minutes to circle the globe.
• The satellites travel at an altitude of 600 km.
• The satellites each have a mass of 1,430 kg (approximately the weight of a black rhino).
• Visual that shows the bus (the body) of each satellite: 3.6 m high, about the height of two average men, by 1.1 m wide. The antenna is 6.98 m wide.