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Space Surveillance

Overview

• AN/FPQ-16 PARCS
• AN/FPS-17
• AN/FPS-50 Ballistic Missile Early Warning System [BMEWS]
• AN/FPS-85
• AN/FPS-92 Ballistic Missile Early Warning System [BMEWS]
• AN/FPS-108 COBRA DANE
• AN/FPS-115 PAVE PAWS Radar System
• AN/FPS-120 Solid State Phased–Array [SSPAR]
• AN/FSS-7

• Navy Space Surveillance System [NAVSPASUR]
• AN/FPS-129 HAVE STARE
• CREEK MAID

• AN/SPQ-11 COBRA JUDY
• COBRA GEMINI [Dual Band Radar / STEEL TRAP]

• Ground Based-Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS)
• Malabar Test Facility
• Starfire
• Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS)
  • Maui Space Surveillance System Phased Array
  • Maui Optical Tracking and Identification Facility (MOTIF)
  • Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS)
  • Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS),

Satellite-to-satellite imaging

On occasion, an imaging satellite will fly close enough to another satellite to obtain a resolved picture of it. This technique, called "satellite-to-satellite" imaging or "sat-squared," has been rumored to be in use for several years using reconnaissance satellites. An unclassified example is this optical image of the ERS-1 radar satellite imaged by the SPOT-4 remote sensing satellite in May of 1998. For further details, see http://spot4.cnes.fr/spot4_gb/im-ers-0.htm

Other Resources

• The Altay Optical-Laser Center Sourcebook by Allen Thomson, updated April 2008
• A Stealth Satellite Sourcebook by Allen Thomson, updated March 2008
• A GRAVES Sourcebook, by Allen Thomson, updated February 2008. "The French GRAVES system (Grande Réseau Adapté à la Veille Spatial) is presently the only European installation outside the US SSN which can perform space surveillance in its classical sense."
• Sourcebook on the Okno and Krona Space Surveillance Systems by Allen Thomson, updated January 2008
• A Globus II / HAVE STARE Sourcebook by Allen Thomson, updated November 2007
• DOPLOC: A Selection of Historical Items on Radiometric Tracking compiled by Allen Thomson
• The Navy Space Surveillance System, R.L. Easton and J.J. Fleming, Proceedings of the IRE, 1960
• Revisiting Spacetrack Report #3 by David A. Vallado, Paul Crawford, Richard Hujsak, and T.S. Kelso, AIAA 2006-6753
• A GEODSS Sourcebook by Allen Thomson, updated December 2006
• A Sourcebook for the Use of the FGAN Tracking and Imaging Radar for Satellite Imaging by Allen Thomson, September 2006
• A Sourcebook on the Use of the MU Radar for Satellite Tracking by Allen Thomson, September 2006
• The Q-2004: The Use of Videography in Tracking Earth Satellites by Greg Roberts (1.8 MB PDF file)
  • CoSaTrak - Computerised Satellite Tracking by Wille Koorts and Greg Roberts
  • Videotrak by Greg Roberts
  • CoSaTrak - Circuit Diagram by Willie Koorts
• Monitoring Space – Efforts Made by European Countries by H. Klinkrad
• Navy Space Surveillance System, budget justification, February 2003
• The Naval Space Command Automatic Differential Correction Process by D.A. Danielson, et al
• COBRA TALON, COBRA SPOT, from Allen Thomson, December 9, 2003
• Could Columbia have been imaged by a KeyHole? by Ted Molczan, February 17, 2003
• STS 107 Mystery Object by Ted Molczan, March 4, 2003
• AMOS Imagery of Space Shuttle Columbia During STS-107
• Space Surveillance and Tracking System, Fact Sheet, October 2002
• The Naval Space Surveillance System, Fact Sheet, September 2002
• SPAWAR Awards Space Surveillance System Contract, September 2002
• A Space Surveillance Ontology, MITRE, October 2000
• Space Surveillance Ontology Captured in an XML Schema, Daniel M. Brandsma, MITRE, May 23, 2001
• Modernizing the Naval Space Surveillance System (PDF), NRL briefing, 1999
• Human Machine Interface Incidents: The SPADOC 4C Story
• Space Surveillance: DOD and NASA Need Consolidated Requirements and a Coordinated Plan. NSIAD-98-42. 29 pages plus 4 appendices (11 pp.) December 1, 1997.
• US Naval Space Command Space Surveillance System (Allen Thomson)
• NAVAL SPACE OPERATIONS CENTER NAVSPACECOM / N32 Brief
• Spacecast 2020 - SPACE TRAFFIC CONTROL
• THE RADAR ROADMAP Electronic Trajectory Measurements Group, Range Commanders Council, DOCUMENT 260-98 - SEPTEMBER 1998

• Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research (CASTOR)
• The flight of Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5
• Radio observations of Kosmos-212/213 - the second automatic docking
• PDM signal format
• Linked to the Fence, an article about Naval Space Command from All Hands magazine, June 2001
• The Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS): A Program Overview, 1999
• AEOS Adaptive-Optics System and Visible Imager, 1999
• Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page
• SeeSat-L Archives - links to the complete archive of SeeSat-L subdivided per month since SeeSat-L was created in December 1994.

Where are They Now?

These gizmos provide near-real time outputs of the locations of orbiting spacecraft.

• Heavens-Above If you're interested in satellites, you've come to the right place! Heavens-Above provides all the information needed to observe satellites, including the times of visibility and detailed star charts showing the satellite's track through the heavens. All the pages, including the graphics, are generated in real-time and customized for location and time zone.

• Liftoff's J-Track Spacecraft Tracker [STS, Mir, etc] SERIOUS JAVA
• View from Satellite To view the Earth as currently seen from a satellite in Earth orbit, choose the satellite from the list and press the "View Earth from Satellite" button.

Other Tracking Activities

See Sat Imaging Satellites in Space From the Ground

BlackBird Hunting

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