RADARSAT International Expands Network Ground Receiving Stations

RADARSAT International (Canada) has announced that it has signed US$ 1.54 million in network station licensing and renewal agreements. New network stations include the Nato Undersea Research Centre (NURC) of Italy, and the Astana station of the Space Research Institute (SRI) of Kazakhstan One-year renewal agreements are with South Korea and an unnamed station in Asia.
The addition of NURC and SRI increases the global network of RADARSAT-1 ground receiving stations to 26. One of the hallmarks of the RADARSAT-1 program is the near-real time delivery of data to operational users requiring time-sensitive information. Data is processed and delivered within 1 - 4 hours after downlink to the nearest network station.

The near-real time service is used internationally in surveillance and monitoring programs that involve activities such as ship detection, disaster assessment and management, and sea ice mapping.