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NOVASAR 1

UK-Australian Commercial SAR Imaging Satellite · SSTL (UK) / UK Space Agency / Australia

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NovaSAR-1, a British radar satellite built specifically to prove that useful synthetic aperture radar imagery could be delivered at a fraction of the cost of traditional SAR missions — a deliberate low-cost design bet by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd that succeeded well enough to attract the UK Space Agency and Australia as joint operators, with a portion of capacity dedicated to maritime surveillance and ship detection across the vast, poorly-monitored waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

Its orbit

Orbit
Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
Altitude
361–363 mi (581–584 km)
Inclination
97.5°
One orbit
96.2 minutes15.0 orbits a day
NORAD ID
43619
Int’l designator
2018-071B
Launched
2018

Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.

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