Air Force Space Surveillance System

Air Force Space Surveillance System
Part of the master transmitter antenna at Lake Kickapoo, Texas c.2001.

The Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, is a multistatic radar system that detects orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the US space surveillance network, and is claimed to be able to detect objects as small as 10 cm (four inches) at heights up to 30,000 km (15,000 nautical miles.) Although formerly operated by the U.S. Navy and known as NAVSPASUR (short for "Naval Space Surveillance"),[1] command passed to the Air Force 20th Space Control Squadron on October 1, 2004.[2] The operation's headquarters are at Dahlgren, Virginia, and radar stations are spread out across the continental United States at roughly the level of the 33rd parallel north.

There are three transmitter sites in the system:[3]

The master transmitter at Lake Kickapoo is said to be the most powerful continuous wave (CW) station in the world, at 768 kW radiated power on 216.97927 MHz. Overhead imagery (see coordinates given above) of the Gila River and Jordan Lake sites suggests that the original design called for antennas of twice the present length with, presumably, greater radiated power.

There are 6 receiving stations:[3]

The receiving stations at Elephant Butte and Hawkinsville are considered to be "High Altitude" stations with longer and more complex antenna systems that are designed to see targets at higher altitudes than the other four receiving stations.

In 2009, the operations and maintenance contract for the day-to-day management and operation of the Fence was awarded to Five Rivers Services, LLC, based out of Colorado Springs, CO. On September 30, 2011, Five Rivers Services was awarded a $7,022,503 firm fixed price with cost reimbursable line items contract modification to manage, operate, maintain, and logistically support the nine Air Force Space Surveillance System field stations, presumably for Fiscal Year 2012.[4]

Space Fence Program Awards contracts for Concept Development [5]

  • The Space Fence is envisaged to be a system of two or three S-band ground-based radars designed to perform uncued detection, tracking and accurate measurement of orbiting space objects. The Space Fence is intended to replace the Air Force Space Surveillance System, or VHF Fence, that was transferred from the Navy to the Air Force in 2004. The shorter wavelength of the S-band Space Fence allows for detection of much smaller satellites and debris.


References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Air Force Space Command — Wappen des Air Force Space Command Das Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) ist eines von zehn Hauptkommandos der United States Air Force (USAF). Sein Hauptquartier liegt auf der Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, USA. Designierter Kommandeur ist… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency — emblem Active June 8, 2007 …   Wikipedia

  • Air Force Space Command — Période 1982 Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Air Force Space Command — Infobox Military Unit unit name= Air Force Space Command caption=Emblem of the AFSPC dates= September 1982–Present country= United States branch= Air Force type= Major Command role= Development and operation of military space technologies size=… …   Wikipedia

  • Air and Space Operations Center — 601st Air and Space Operations Center at Tyndall AFB, Florida An Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) is a type of command center used by the United States Air Force. It is the senior agency of the Air Force component commander to provide… …   Wikipedia

  • Space Based Space Surveillance — The Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system is a planned constellation of satellites and supporting ground infrastructure that will improve the ability of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and track space objects in… …   Wikipedia

  • US Air Force Space Command — Wappen des Air Force Space Command Das Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) ist eines von zehn Hauptkommandos der United States Air Force (USAF). Sein Hauptquartier liegt auf der Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, USA. Kommandeur ist seit dem 24.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • United States Space Surveillance Network — Space surveillance is a critical part of United States Strategic Command s (USSTRATCOM) mission and involves detecting, tracking, cataloging and identifying man made objects orbiting Earth, i.e. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or …   Wikipedia

  • United States Air Force — USAF redirects here. For other uses, see USAF (disambiguation). The U.S. Air Force redirects here. For the song, see The U.S. Air Force (song). United States Air Force …   Wikipedia

  • Air Force Research Laboratory — Emblem of AFRL …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”