Editing Radarsat-1 (section)

== Orbit ==
[[File:Radarsat 1 orbit trace.png|thumb|upright=1.0|left|Orbital trace of Radarsat-1]]

With an [[orbital period]] of 100.70 minutes, RADARSAT-1 circled the Earth 14 times a day.<ref name=characteristics/> The orbit path repeated every 24 days, meaning that the satellite was in exactly the same location and could take the same image (same beam mode and beam position) every 24 days. This was useful for [[Interferometric synthetic aperture radar|interferometry]] and detecting changes at that location that took place during the 24 days. Using different beam positions, a location could also be scanned every few days.

RADARSAT-1 was a right-looking satellite,<ref name=characteristics/> meaning that the microwave beam transmits and receives on the right side of the satellite, relative to its orbital path. As it descends in its orbit from the [[North Pole]], it faces west, and when it ascends from the [[South Pole]], it faces east. Locations could therefore be imaged from opposite sides. Combined with the different beam modes and positions, this provided users with many possible perspectives from which to image a location.