SpaceAlpha Insights Corp.

Published purpose

SpaceAlpha is developing a fully digital, dual-band multi-aperture spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensor for remote sensing the earth regardless of cloud cover or daylight conditions. This Space Technology Development Program (STDP) project aims to prototype the next generation of digital electronics at the heart of the sensor (the Digital Radio Frequency Unit, or DRFU). We approach the project using the latest Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices, which will bring a significant reduction in size, power and complexity to the sensor. Furthermore, the new DRFU will have the interfaces to fully interact with SpaceAlpha’s High Speed On-Board Processor (HSOBP) currently being built under a separate contract. The combination of this new DRFU and the HSOBP on a SAR satellite will enable ground-breaking real-time artificial intelligence in a spaceborne remote sensing system that is built in Canada.