Space domain awareness is the study and monitoring of satellites

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

ing the earth. It involves the detection, tracking, cataloging and identification of artificial objects, i.e. active/inactive

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

s, spent

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

bodies, or fragmentation debris.

Aims

Space domain awareness accomplishes the following: * Predicting when and where a decaying space object will re-enter the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

; * Preventing a returning space object, which to

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

looks like a missile, from triggering a

false alarm A false alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the deceptive or erroneous report of an emergency, causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources (such as emergency services) to a place where they are not needed. False alarms may occur with ...

in missile-attack warning sensors; * Charting the present position of space objects and plot their anticipated orbital paths; * Detecting new man-made objects in space; * Producing a running catalogue of man-made space objects; * Determining which country owns a re-entering space object; * Informing countries whether or not objects may interfere with

s and

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

orbits; * Providing data for future anti-satellite weapons systems.

Systems

Systems include: * The DEEP-Sight prototype, designed by Deepinder Uppal on behalf of the Defense Innovation Unit, this system is designed to provide space domain awareness across a broad-spectrum of SDA use cases to Space Force, the United States Navy and PSRA (Public Satellite Research and Analysis) teams. https://www.diu.mil/latest/commercial-space-industry-providing-tools-to-advance-and-augment-space * The

United States Space Surveillance Network The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris. The system is the responsibility of Uni ...

which has detectors such as the

Space Fence The ''Space Fence'' is a second-generation space surveillance system operated by the United States Space Force in order to track artificial satellites and space debris in Earth orbit. Contracts were issued for development and construction in 20 ...

(replacing the now defunct

Air Force Space Surveillance System The AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, was a U.S. government multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the U.S. space surveillance ...

) and

Space Surveillance Telescope The Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) is a military telescope for detecting, tracking and cataloguing satellites, near-Earth objects and space debris. SST achieved first light in 2011 at the White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile ...

* The Russian Main Control Centre of Outer Space with facilities such as

Okno Okno ( rus, Окно meaning window) is a Russian space surveillance station located in Nurak in Tajikistan. It is run by the Russian Space Forces and is part of the Centre for Outer Space Monitoring. It is located above sea level in the Sanglok ...

and Krona * The French GRAVES (Grand Réseau Adapté à la Veille Spatiale)

bi-static radar Bistatic radar is a radar system comprising a transmitter and receiver that are separated by a distance comparable to the expected target distance. Conversely, a conventional radar in which the transmitter and receiver are co-located is called ...

-based space surveillance system deploy by French Air Force * The European

Space Situational Awareness Programme The Space Safety Programme, formerly the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme, is the European Space Agency's (ESA) initiative to monitor hazards from space, determine their risk, make this data available to the appropriate authorities and ...

with multiple assets in its Space Surveillance and Tracking Segment * The Australian based

Silentium Defence Silentium is a Finnish gothic metal band. The band was formed in 1995 and it originates from Jämsänkoski, Finland. Keyboardist Sami Boman and original vocalist Matti Aikio created Silentium by adding violin player Jani Laaksonen, guitar play ...

Oculus

passive radar Passive radar systems (also referred to as passive coherent location, passive surveillance systems, and passive covert radar) encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of ...

space observatory in Swan Reach, South Australia Silentium Defence Passive Radar for SDA - low resolution 2

References

External links

United States Space Surveillance
{{Politics of outer space Space technology Surveillance Space debris