RBX: The new X-band radar from INTA

This paper describes the architecture and main characteristics of the new synthetic aperture radar system which is being developed at Spanish National Institute of Aerospace Technology. The new prototype will support submetric resolution and interferometric and polarimetric capabilities, similar to other research SAR systems. The system architecture was designed taking into account an easy upgrade procedure and a continuous mount and dismount requisite. Hence, the system has just a few units and external interconnections. In addition, a feature which focused a significant design effort was data quality, thus the system supports calibration procedures like calibration loops or the acquisition of a replica from the transmitted signal.