Article Entry
17 Feb 2009
Comments:3
Air Force Tracking Debris in Space and Gaining Situational Awareness in the Heavens
Added by USGIF Category: Daily Intelligence Brief, General
Space is a crowded place. Did you know that the Air Force tracks more than 18,000 objects in our orbit? And, the Feb 11 collision of an Iridium communications satellite with a Russian military satellite only underscores just how crowded it is up there. To deal with all of this space traffic and debris floating around, the Air Force has launched its Space Based Space Surveillance system (SBSS), which is a $425 million satellite equipped with a high-end 500-pound digital camera that can swivel and take photos of all the stuff in space.
The Air Force touts the SBSS as being “essential” to achieving “full space situational awareness,” especially when it comes to know what the bad guys are doing in space as well. A written description of the program said that: “Our adversaries recognize our overwhelming dependence on space assets, and we must have the ability to detect and track space objects – especially those that might be considered a threat.”
So, is space the final frontier when it comes to fighting the bad guys? Or, is it just soo darned crowded that just knowing what is up there is half the battle? It is amazing to think about the world of stuff happening over our heads, round-the-clock.
Tags: Air Force, GEOINT, Iridium, Satellites, Space, Space clutter, space debris
After hearing about the collision in space my thought automatically went to.. WOW! We have garbage in space too?? Isn’t it tough enough with what we already contend with here on earth? It’s sad in a way that something can’t be done to help alleviate the “trash” thats up there as well. I think it just adds that “one more thing” to watch when, I believe there is already enough more important things to watch up there.
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