TERRA SAR X
Country: Germany · Also known as: 2007-026A
Live Position
Ground Track · Last 90 Minutes
Upcoming Passes · Over Your Location
About This Satellite
TerraSAR-X launched on June 15, 2007 as a German radar mission serving scientific and commercial Earth observation. DLR and the industrial partner developed it through a public-private partnership. Its payload operates in X-band at 9.65 GHz, so the measurements concern radar echoes rather than the visible colours of a landscape.
The repeat cycle is not a promise of a new image
DLR describes a sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit with an 11-day repeat period. This characterises the repeating orbit geometry, not a guarantee that every place is imaged every eleven days. A usable observation also depends on the acquisition mode, tasking, and the products available from the mission.
TerraSAR-X and Terra are different missions
The name in this record identifies the German X-band radar satellite, not NASA's Terra observatory. When looking for imagery, keep the spacecraft and sensor together. The frequency, operating mode, and acquisition date are more informative than a search for the shared word "Terra" or a generic Earth-observation picture.
Mission reference: DLR: TerraSAR-X mission, orbit and scientific/commercial roles. Editorial review: .
Sharper detail comes with a different acquisition footprint
DLR's original mode description contrasts Spotlight imaging over a roughly 10 by 10 km area, StripMap over a 30 km wide strip, and ScanSAR over a 100 km wide strip. Those modes do not offer identical resolution. The broadest strip is useful for regional context, while a small detailed acquisition answers a different question. Retain the actual product mode before comparing two scenes.
Reference: DLR: original TerraSAR-X Spotlight, StripMap and ScanSAR configurations.
Commissioning tested processing as well as the spacecraft
DLR's early processing report describes prelaunch validation of the ground and space systems and demonstrations of both StripMap and Spotlight interferometry. Radar data needed a working processing chain, not simply a successful transmission. In an interferometric analysis, the selected observations and their phase information matter; an attractive rendered radar picture alone does not establish that a pair is suitable for the measurement.
Reference: DLR electronic library: TerraSAR-X processing and early interferometry demonstrations.
Reading this orbital snapshot
Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-02. Estimated altitude ranges from 507 km at perigee to 510 km at apogee, a difference of 2 km. The orbital period is about 94.8 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00016 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.00 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.
Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.
Ground track is not sensor coverage
An inclination of 97.45 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 82.6 degrees north and south. This is a retrograde orbit, moving against the direction of Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.
Accuracy and missing information
The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.
Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 31698 · GCAT: S31698 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.
Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)