Science
SAOCOM 1B
Argentine L-band SAR Imaging Satellite · CONAE (Argentina)
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SAOCOM 1B completed something unusual: a fully operational two-satellite radar constellation built entirely by a South American space agency, without a single foreign satellite in the pair. Its L-band radar reaches meters into the ground to measure soil moisture directly — data Argentina's farmers use to time planting across the Pampas, one of the largest grain-growing regions on Earth, and data Argentina now formally shares with Italy's COSMO-SkyMed constellation under a bilateral radar-sharing agreement between the two nations.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 389–390 mi (626–628 km)
- Inclination
- 97.9°
- One orbit
- 97.1 minutes14.8 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 46265
- Int’l designator
- 2020-059A
- Launched
- 2020
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 8 Nov 2026.
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