System, method, and satellites for surveillance imaging and earth observation using synthetic aperture radar imaging

A satellite imaging system comprising:

• a first satellite, a first trailing satellite, and a ground segment;
• wherein the first satellite is configured to:
• acquire synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image data in a first predetermined signal frequency band at a first imaging location, the first imaging location defined by first coordinates, and wherein the first satellite has a broad area imaging swath;
• and
• transmit the SAR image data to the ground segment via a first downlink;
• wherein the ground segment is configured to:
• determine a second imaging location from the received SAR image data, the second imaging location defined by second coordinates, wherein the second imaging location is a prediction of an anticipated future imaging swath for at least one object based on the SAR image data;
• and
• transmit the second imaging location to the first trailing satellite via a second uplink;
• wherein the trailing satellite is configured to:
• acquire image data in a second predetermined signal frequency band at the second imaging location, the image data having a higher resolution than the SAR image data, wherein the trailing satellite has a smaller imaging swath than the broad area imaging swath of the first satellite;
• and
• transmit the image data to the ground segment via a second downlink.