Abstract Synthetic Aperture Radar Development in Malaysia Norhan Mat Yusoff Engineer Muhammad Firdaus Othman Earth Observation Sciences Division Malaysia E mail:norhan@atsb-malaysia.com.my Abstract Existing Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) space-borne imager systems have been synonymous to a satellite system with a large volume, mass and power requirements and obviously their cost (e.g. ERS series, RADARSAT series, JERS-1). However, Astronautic Technology Sdn. Bhd. (ATSB) as a premier aerospace organization that involves with the space technology in Malaysia, has taken a first step undergoing a feasibility mission study in order to search a SAR design and performance that could result a significant impacts towards a smaller size, mass and power compared to the existing SAR systems and simultaneously meeting the requirement of the Malaysian user community. The mission study is looking into the technical possibility of developing the smaller class (<500kg) of such a SAR satellite system which includes defining thesuitable frequency band selection, incidence or look angle, polarization and spatial resolution. Even though the constraint is on having to develop a smaller version of the system, the potential applications of such a system to the user community need to be considered as well. Thus, balance between the two elements would derive an optimum system specification that would satisfy national needs economically and operational usability.