6 ms·

NovaSAR: UK radar satellite to track illegal shipping activity

alex_hitchins 8y ago
I wonder what the 'refresh-rate' is of a scan, as in how many times a second/minute/hour is the image refreshed. I doubt such a wide area could be real-time. Guessing it's enough that it's possible to track and locate rogue ships.
- thebooktocome 8y ago
  https://www.sandia.gov/radar/video/index.html https://www.sandia.gov/radar/video/index.html These videos are pretty old, IIRC.
- planteen 8y ago
  It looks like a 580 km polar orbit, so any given point on the Earth will only be scanned twice in a day - once at night and once in the day. https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/1041372372924739586 https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/104137237292473958...
helb 8y ago
If you are interested in more details than BBC's article has: - some more detailed specs: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/n/novasar-s https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missio... - launch report & video: https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/09/16/pslv-c42-mission-status-center/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/09/16/pslv-c42-mission-statu...
huffmsa 8y ago
Why is it that basically every story coming out of the UK makes Orwell look more and more like a prophet?
- pjc50 8y ago
  Maritime law enforcement is a rather traditional role of the Royal Navy and hardly Orwellian. The radar-based satellite is arguably less worrying than the traditional US military spy satellites.
  - mmjaa 8y ago
    I don't remember voting for the UK to police my countries sovereign waters. Fact is, the UK has no real place in the world if it isn't policing things such as the worlds oceans, or its finances. This is a role it has granted itself, un-democratically - one may even say, Imperiously...
    - swarnie_ 8y ago
      What's your proposed alternative?
    - nkrisc 8y ago
      Natural resources and the environment don't respect borders. All countries should be watching what others do to shared natural resources.
    - sgt101 8y ago
      >Imperiously We've even built a death star! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12169051/Massive-Death-Star-model-revealed-for-Legoland-Windsor.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12169051/Massive-Dea... No, really,
- Fiahil 8y ago
  For once, this is about tracking down illegal operations that would otherwise destroy this planet's most precious resource. Please, take a look at this http://globalfishingwatch.org/ http://globalfishingwatch.org/ to get a grasp about what's at stake.
jstanley 8y ago
What's the problem with "illegal shipping" anyway? Surely it's not worth launching a satellite just to stop the odd customs-evader? What is this really for?
- mmjaa 8y ago
  To establish precedent for the UK policing the worlds oceans - a goal its had on its roster for centuries now.
  - gadders 8y ago
    Well, they did use it to stop slavery...
    - mmjaa 8y ago
      .. and as well, exercise an iron grip over the third worlds' economy ..
- detritus 8y ago
  Illegal fishing is a big contender and is one avenue I think is sorely needed in this world of horrific natural/resource depletion and by-catch waste, despite what certain punters with an axe to grind (eg @mmjaa, below) may believe.
- Qworg 8y ago
  Illegal shipping is a small problem (~$100M?) Illegal fishing is not - $10 - $23B annually in cost (2009)[1], destroys fish stocks, and contributes to slavery and human trafficking.[2] [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646833/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646833/ [2] https://fas.org/irp/nic/fishing.pdf https://fas.org/irp/nic/fishing.pdf
- dubbel 8y ago
  I would imagine the illegal shipping activity they are mainly targeting is the bypassing of sanctions. For example oil being transferred between tankers on the high seas and then shipped into North Korea. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-russia-oil-exclus/exclusive-russian-tankers-fueled-north-korea-via-transfers-at-sea-sources-idUSKBN1EN1OJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-russi...
TwoQ 8y ago
For once, news about the UK Government tracking things that DOESN'T look like 1984.
aerostable_slug 8y ago
Many of you may remember past radar ocean surveillance satellites, perhaps most notably the Soviet US-A series of RORSATs: http://www.astronautix.com/u/us-a.html http://www.astronautix.com/u/us-a.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A
dzhiurgis 8y ago
FWIW Iridium already does the same thing on a global scale. Includes AIS and ADS-B tracking (tho both can be switched off easily).
- danielvf 8y ago
  That’s not really the same thing at all - listening for a deliberate transmission from a ship announcing its location is easy, required only an antenna, and can be done from a cubesat. This is an active radar in space.

I wonder what the 'refresh-rate' is of a scan, as in how many times a second/minute/hour is the image refreshed. I doubt such a wide area could be real-time. Guessing it's enough that it's possible to track and locate rogue ships.

thebooktocome 8y ago
https://www.sandia.gov/radar/video/index.html https://www.sandia.gov/radar/video/index.html These videos are pretty old, IIRC.
planteen 8y ago
It looks like a 580 km polar orbit, so any given point on the Earth will only be scanned twice in a day - once at night and once in the day. https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/1041372372924739586 https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/104137237292473958...

helb 8y ago

If you are interested in more details than BBC's article has: - some more detailed specs: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/n/novasar-s https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missio... - launch report & video: https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/09/16/pslv-c42-mission-status-center/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/09/16/pslv-c42-mission-statu...

huffmsa 8y ago

Why is it that basically every story coming out of the UK makes Orwell look more and more like a prophet?

pjc50 8y ago
Maritime law enforcement is a rather traditional role of the Royal Navy and hardly Orwellian. The radar-based satellite is arguably less worrying than the traditional US military spy satellites.
- mmjaa 8y ago
  I don't remember voting for the UK to police my countries sovereign waters. Fact is, the UK has no real place in the world if it isn't policing things such as the worlds oceans, or its finances. This is a role it has granted itself, un-democratically - one may even say, Imperiously...
  - swarnie_ 8y ago
    What's your proposed alternative?
  - nkrisc 8y ago
    Natural resources and the environment don't respect borders. All countries should be watching what others do to shared natural resources.
  - sgt101 8y ago
    >Imperiously We've even built a death star! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12169051/Massive-Death-Star-model-revealed-for-Legoland-Windsor.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12169051/Massive-Dea... No, really,
Fiahil 8y ago
For once, this is about tracking down illegal operations that would otherwise destroy this planet's most precious resource. Please, take a look at this http://globalfishingwatch.org/ http://globalfishingwatch.org/ to get a grasp about what's at stake.

jstanley 8y ago

What's the problem with "illegal shipping" anyway? Surely it's not worth launching a satellite just to stop the odd customs-evader? What is this really for?

mmjaa 8y ago
To establish precedent for the UK policing the worlds oceans - a goal its had on its roster for centuries now.
- gadders 8y ago
  Well, they did use it to stop slavery...
  - mmjaa 8y ago
    .. and as well, exercise an iron grip over the third worlds' economy ..
detritus 8y ago
Illegal fishing is a big contender and is one avenue I think is sorely needed in this world of horrific natural/resource depletion and by-catch waste, despite what certain punters with an axe to grind (eg @mmjaa, below) may believe.
Qworg 8y ago
Illegal shipping is a small problem (~$100M?) Illegal fishing is not - $10 - $23B annually in cost (2009)[1], destroys fish stocks, and contributes to slavery and human trafficking.[2] [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646833/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646833/ [2] https://fas.org/irp/nic/fishing.pdf https://fas.org/irp/nic/fishing.pdf
dubbel 8y ago
I would imagine the illegal shipping activity they are mainly targeting is the bypassing of sanctions. For example oil being transferred between tankers on the high seas and then shipped into North Korea. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-russia-oil-exclus/exclusive-russian-tankers-fueled-north-korea-via-transfers-at-sea-sources-idUSKBN1EN1OJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-russi...

TwoQ 8y ago

For once, news about the UK Government tracking things that DOESN'T look like 1984.

aerostable_slug 8y ago

Many of you may remember past radar ocean surveillance satellites, perhaps most notably the Soviet US-A series of RORSATs: http://www.astronautix.com/u/us-a.html http://www.astronautix.com/u/us-a.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US-A

dzhiurgis 8y ago

FWIW Iridium already does the same thing on a global scale. Includes AIS and ADS-B tracking (tho both can be switched off easily).

danielvf 8y ago
That’s not really the same thing at all - listening for a deliberate transmission from a ship announcing its location is easy, required only an antenna, and can be done from a cubesat. This is an active radar in space.