Lockheed Martin Space Fence Radar Prototype Tracking Orbiting Objects

A prototype of a new radar system developed by a Lockheed Martin-led team is now tracking orbiting space objects, bringing the U.S. Air Force's Space Fence program one step closer to revolutionizing our nation's space situational awareness.

Utilizing powerful, new ground-based radars, Space Fence will enhance the way the U.S. detects, tracks, measures and catalogs orbiting objects and space debris with improved accuracy, better timeliness and increased surveillance coverage.

Lockheed Martin's prototype radar recently met a key contract requirement during a series of demonstration events by proving it could detect these resident space objects, as they are referred to by the Air Force.

On February 29, the Air Force granted its final approval of Lockheed Martin's preliminary design for the system.

"The successful detection and tracking of resident space objects are important steps in demonstrating technology maturity, cost certainty and low program risk," said Steve Bruce, vice president of the Space Fence program at Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems and Sensors business.

"Our final system design incorporates a scalable, solid-state S-band radar, with a higher wavelength frequency capable of detecting much smaller objects than the Air Force's current system."

Space Fence will enable the decommissioning of the aging U.S.-based Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS), originally installed in 1961.

With more than 60 nations operating in space today, the final frontier is much more complex than when the AFSSS first started tracking a few hundred orbiting objects.

With hundreds of thousands of objects orbiting the earth, space debris and risk of potential collisions now threaten national space assets providing critical services, including the Global Positioning System, banking and telecommunications.

Bruce added, "Space Fence will detect, track and catalogue over 200,000 orbiting objects and help transform space situational awareness from being reactive to predictive. The Air Force will have more time to anticipate events potentially impacting space assets and missions. Our net-centric design approach allows Space Fence to be easily integrated into the broader U.S. Space Surveillance Network of sensors already operated by the Air Force."

Lockheed Martin's Space Fence prototype was developed under an 18-month, $107 million contract awarded by the Air Force in January 2011.

The Air Force has said it plans to award a Space Fence production contract later in 2012. The first of several Space Fence sites is expected to reach initial operational capability in 2017.

NASA Needs Strategic Plan to Manage Orbital Debris Efforts

Although NASA's meteoroid and orbital debris programs have responsibly used their resources, the agency's management structure has not kept pace with increasing hazards posed by abandoned equipment, spent rocket bodies, and other debris orbiting the Earth, says a new report by the National Research Council.

NASA should develop a formal strategic plan to better allocate resources devoted to the management of orbital debris.

In addition, removal of debris from the space environment or other actions to mitigate risks may be necessary.

The complexity and severity of the orbital debris environment combined with decreased funding and increased responsibilities have put new pressures on NASA, according to the report. Some scenarios generated by the agency's meteoroid and orbital debris models show that debris has reached a "tipping point," with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures, the report notes.

In addition, collisions with debris have disabled and even destroyed satellites in the past; a recent near-miss of the International Space Station underscores the value in monitoring and tracking orbital debris as precisely as possible.

"The current space environment is growing increasingly hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts," said Donald Kessler, chair of the committee that wrote the report and retired head of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office.

"NASA needs to determine the best path forward for tackling the multifaceted problems caused by meteoroids and orbital debris that put human and robotic space operations at risk."

The strategic plan NASA develops should provide a basis for prioritizing efforts and allocating funds to the agency's numerous meteoroid and orbital debris programs, the report says.

Currently, the programs do not have a single management and budget structure that can efficiently coordinate all of these activities. The programs are also vulnerable to changes in personnel, as nearly all of them are staffed by just one person.

The strategic plan, which should consider short- and long-term objectives, a schedule of benchmark achievements, and priorities among them, also should include potential research needs and management issues. The report lists these.

Removal of orbital debris introduces another set of complexities, the report adds, because only about 30 percent of the objects can be attributed to the United States.

"The Cold War is over, but the acute sensitivity regarding satellite technology remains," explained committee vice chair George Gleghorn, former vice president and chief engineer for the TRW Space and Technology Group.

Although NASA has identified the need for removing debris, the agency and U.S. government as a whole have not fully examined the economic, technological, political, and legal considerations, the report says.

Cheese - UK Space Mission unsuccessful

It's Cheese Jim but not as we know it!
In a bizarre story that is greatly influenced by Wallace and Gromit, the UK animated figures, a cheesemaker's stunt to launch a wedge of cheddar cheese into space fell flat on its face after the organisers lost contact with its payload just minutes after lift-off.

The West Country Cheesemakers, who organised the 'mission', attached a 300kg chunk of cheese to a weather balloon, which lifted off from Pewsey, Wilts, at 4am on July 28.

The balloon floated up to the 'edge of space' at 18.6 miles (30km) above sea level, where the 1.6m-wide helium balloon was expected to burst.

The cheesemakers were expecting that the record-breaking capsule would then fall gently down to earth on a special parachute. They had even fitted the capsule with a digital camera to take pictures of the cheese in 'outer space'.

Unfortunately, the plans of mice and men sometimes go astray. The on-board GPS satellite system, which was supposed to track the intergalactic dairy product, failed shortly after take-off.

It is still unclear whether the balloon managed to succeed in its bizarre mission but it was a bold step forward for intergalactic cheese trading.