Comprised of three identical Earth observation satellites working together, Canada's RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) provides daily information about the condition of the Earth's surface. Launched on 12 June 2019, the satellites build upon a legacy of Canadian RADARSAT satellites that spans over twenty years. The RCM will ensure that this data remains available to Canadians, and will provide information to assist in areas such as maritime surveillance, disaster management, and ecosystem monitoring. In terms of maritime surveillance, information collected by the RCM contributes to ice, surface wind, oil pollution, and ship monitoring. RCM information can aid disaster management efforts in terms of mitigation, warning, recovery, and response, and can allow for detailed ecosystem monitoring including in the areas of agriculture, wildlife habitat, wetlands, forestry, and coastal change. The constellation's use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) allows data to be collected day and night, and in all climate conditions, making it an effective and reliable tool for observing changes in the Earth's surface. The RCM satellites fly in a low Earth orbit, with an altitude from 586 km to 615 km.
Monitoring ice conditions and flooding, detecting and monitoring oil spills, providing daily global coverage of wind storms, and providing high-resolution imagery of earthquake-prone areas.
