Technical aspects of future SAR missions

Recent developments in SAR data processing have paved the way towards more and highly flexible imaging modes and significant improvements with respect to area coverage and resolution. Here, for instance Digital Beam Forming (DBF) will enable the development of SAR missions which mitigate the old `area-for-resolution' trade-off. Furthermore, the recent 1200MHz frequency allocation by ITU for commercial and public use in X-Band Earth Observation missions eliminates a second known (`availability-for-intuitiveness') trade-off. The paper describes recent developments and achievements which will shape upcoming missions.