spacetoday.net: RADARSAT-1 malfunctions

Posted: Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 9:09 AM ET (1309 GMT)
RADARSAT-1 (CSA)

A Canadian radar imaging satellite that has long exceeded its planned lifetime has malfunctioned and may not be recovered, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) reported this week. RADARSAT-1 launched in 1995 on what was planned to be a five-year mission, providing all-weather imagery through its synthetic aperture radar instrument. The spacecraft experienced an unspecified "technical anomaly," possibly with its power system, on March 29 that put the spacecraft into a safe mode, the CSA said Tuesday. An investigation is ongoing, but the CSA warned that the chances of a full recovery of the spacecraft were low. Canada has another radar imaging satellite, RADARSAT-2, in operation, and is planning a follow-on RADARSAT Constellation Mission for later this decade.