The COSMO-SkyMed Dual Use Earth Observation Program: Development, Qualification, and Results of the Commissioning of the Overall Constellation

Abstract

COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) is the largest Italian investment in Space Systems for Earth Observation, commissioned and funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Italian Ministry of Defense (It-MoD). The CSK constellation has been completely qualified in orbit since 2010 and it is still operating at full performance with a constellation of four mid-sized satellites placed in Low Earth Orbit, each carrying a high-resolution X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and a full-featured Ground Segment to exploit observation capabilities and providing SAR imaging servicing worldwide. The primary mission objective of CSK is the provision of services able to quickly answer to the user needs in the domains of Monitoring of land and environmental resources, Strategic Surveillance for Defense and Intelligence, Maritime Control, Topography, and Commercial applications as well. CSK fulfills civilian and defense needs, enhancing international partnerships through its interoperability, expandability, and multisensor (IEM) features and practices. Thanks to these features, CSK is an asset for international partnership such as the Italian-Argentinean Satellite System for Emergency Management (SIASGE). This paper intends to delineate how those fundamental characteristics of CSK have been qualified and commissioned from the launch of the first CSK satellite in 2007 through its progressive deployment until the system in-flight final acceptance (S-IFAR) event in 2010 that has completed the orbiting four-satellite qualified configuration. Nowadays, CSK is operating at full performance, constituting an asset for its firstclass radar observation capabilities, state-of-the-art technology aimed at improving security of countries, safety, and life quality of their citizens.