CHORUS C

CHORUS C [MDA]

CHORUS is a Canadian radar Earth observation satellite constellation being developed by MDA Space, formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. The system consists of the CHORUS-C and CHORUS-X synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, designed to provide day-and-night, all-weather Earth imaging. CHORUS builds on the RADARSAT heritage and combines C-band and X-band SAR imaging in a coordinated constellation architecture.

The mission is intended to provide high-capacity radar imaging services for governmental, defence, environmental, maritime, and commercial users. CHORUS applications include maritime surveillance, disaster response, environmental monitoring, and geospatial analytics. The constellation is designed around a cooperative imaging concept in which the leading C-band satellite provides wide-area monitoring while the trailing X-band satellite performs higher-resolution follow-up imaging of identified targets.

CHORUS-C carries a C-band SAR instrument derived from technologies developed for the RADARSAT-2 and RADARSAT Constellation Mission programs. CHORUS X carries an X-band SAR instrument based on the third-generation satellite platform developed by ICEYE. The two spacecraft will operate in the same mid-inclination orbit and follow identical ground tracks, with CHORUS X trailing CHORUS-C by approximately 60 minutes. The architecture allows near real-time “tip-and-cue” operations in which low-resolution wide-area imagery from CHORUS C is analysed by AI and machine-learning systems to identify targets of interest, after which coordinates are uplinked to CHORUS X for sub-metre imaging.

The constellation is designed to provide a maximum swath width of 700 km using CHORUS C and a highest image resolution of 0.25 m in spotlight imaging mode using CHORUS X. Both satellites will operate in a non-sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at an altitude of approximately 588–602 km and an inclination of 53.5°. The orbit allows local imaging times to shift by roughly 20 minutes earlier each day, enabling observations of the same region at varying times of day.

CHORUS will use ground infrastructure derived from previous RADARSAT missions, including the RADARSAT Ground Segment and cloud-based direct downlink systems. CHORUS C is planned to support dual downlink channels at 300 Mbit/s each, while CHORUS X is expected to support downlink rates exceeding 500 Mbit/s.

The satellites are scheduled for launch aboard a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) in late 2026.