Radar using end-to-end relay

An imaging system, comprising:

• a satellite access node configured to receive a return downlink signal, wherein the return downlink signal comprises a composite of return uplink signals received by a satellite via a plurality of feed elements of a return uplink feed array assembly of an antenna illuminating a geographical region;
• and
• at least one processor configured to:
• process the return downlink signal according to a plurality of beam weight sets to obtain a plurality of beam signals, the plurality of beam weight sets corresponding to a respective plurality of beam coverage patterns, wherein a first beam coverage pattern of the plurality of beam coverage patterns comprises a first plurality of beam coverage areas associated with a first polarization and a first frequency range, and wherein a second beam coverage pattern of the plurality of beam coverage patterns comprises a second plurality of beam coverage areas associated with the first polarization and the first frequency range, and wherein the second plurality of beam coverage areas are offset from the first plurality of beam coverage areas, and wherein, to process the return downlink signal, the at least one processor is configured to:
• process a first set of signal data of the return downlink signal according to the plurality of beam weight sets, the first set of signal data corresponding to a first time duration of the return downlink signal, wherein, to process the return downlink signal according to the plurality of beam weight sets, the at least one processor is configured to:
• process the first set of signal data according to a first beam weight set corresponding to the first beam coverage pattern to obtain a first subset of the plurality of beam signals corresponding to the first beam coverage pattern;
• and
• process the first set of signal data according to a second beam weight set corresponding to the second beam coverage pattern to obtain a second subset of the plurality of beam signals corresponding to the second beam coverage pattern;
• and
• process the plurality of beam signals to obtain an image of the illuminated geographical region comprising image pixel values corresponding to the plurality of beam signals.