Germany: Satellite Platforms
Germany's SAR Lupe is a constellation of five X-band SAR satellites in three polar orbits. Following the first successful launch on December 19, 2006, Germany, using a Russian booster, launched the second satellite in its planned five-satellite SAR-Lupe synthetic aperture radar constellation on July 2, 2007, the third on November 1, 2007, the fourth on March 27, 2008 and the last one on July 22, 2008. The system achieved full operational readiness with the launch of the last satellite.
SAR is usually considered a MASINT sensor, but the significance here is that Germany obtains access to French satellite ELINT.
Germany is a MUSIS partner, which should be considered in assessing the potential of information sharing among the partners.
Read more about this topic: Signals Intelligence Operational Platforms By Nation, Satellite Platforms
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