Office for Outer Space Affairs
UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal
Help Shape the Future of the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal
The UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal is your one-stop platform for resources on space-based disaster risk management. It provides: • Links and guidance on satellite data sources and applications • Recommended practices and step-by-step methodologies • Training materials and tutorials • Case studies and user stories from real-world applications • News and updates on UN-SPIDER activities, events, and global developments
Since its last major review in 2012, the Portal has evolved significantly. Now, we want to hear from you.
We invite you to take part in the 2025 evaluation of the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal!
TerraSAR-X is a German Earth-observation satellite. Its primary payload is an X-band radar sensor with a range of different modes of operation, allowing it to record images with different swath widths, resolutions and polarisations. TerraSAR-X thus offers space-based observation capabilities that were previously unavailable. The objective of the mission is to provide value-added SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data in the X-band, for research and development purposes as well as scientific and commercial applications. The successful launch of TerraSAR-X on 15 June 2007 at 08:14 local time from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan marked the start of a campaign to map the Earth at an unprecedented level of accuracy. The aim is to create new, high-quality radar images of the Earth’s surface.
Instrument: SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) - the sensor operates in the X-band and in 3 different modes (Spotlight, Stripmap, ScanSAR)