TANDEM X

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TANDEM X is classified as:

Geodetic

NORAD ID: 36605

Int'l Code: 2010-030A

Launch date: June 21, 2010
Source: Germany (GER)
Launch site: TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR)

TANDEM-X will fly in formation with a similar satellite launched in 2007 to illuminate Earth with two radars from slightly different vantage points in space. TanDEM-X stands for TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement, according to DLR. TerraSAR-X has been collecting its own topographic images of Earth for nearly three years. The satellites will be separated by several hundred meters during normal operations, occasionally approaching within 200 meters, or 656 feet, of each other. TanDEM-X is designed to work for at least five years, including a three-year overlap with TerraSAR-X. Both satellites carry X-band radars capable of accumulating enough data in three years to fill 200,000 DVDs, equivalent to 1.5 petabytes, or one-and-a-half quadrillion bytes. The radars can map Earth during day and night passes and see through clouds and precipitation. The mission's data will produce gridded maps with a spatial resolution of 12 meters, or 39 feet. The maps will show elevation with an accuracy of less than 2 meters, or 6 feet.