# IonQ launches a commercial InSAR service on Capella's radar satellites for millimetre-scale ground monitoring

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/ionq-launches-a-commercial-insar-service-on-capella-s-radar-satellites-3ebdc03f
Date: 4 May 2026
About: [IonQ](https://technooptimist.io/companies/ionq.md) · [Capella SAR constellation](https://technooptimist.io/spaceflight/capella-sar.md)
Original source: https://www.ionq.com/news/ionq-launches-commercial-insar-capability-enabling-automated-millimeter-scale-earth-monitoring

IonQ began selling interferometric radar (InSAR) from the Capella constellation: repeated radar images of the same place, compared to detect ground moving by millimetres. Customers set up repeat collections through an automated tasking platform with no manual coordination.

## Key facts

- Three-day repeat cycle, using a mix of mid-inclination and sun-synchronous orbits.
- Consistent viewing geometry helps separate vertical from horizontal motion for 3D deformation maps.
- A 2025 study over Mexico City measured subsidence above 70 cm per year from 18 images in seven weeks.
- Target users: infrastructure, energy, insurance, urban development and national security.

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