Satellite to monitor debris in orbit

July 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

DENVER

A new U.S. Air Force satellite will provide the first full-time, space-based surveillance of hundreds of satellites and thousands of pieces of debris that could crash into American and allied assets circling the Earth.

If all goes as planned, the Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite, scheduled for a Thursday launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., will have an unobstructed, round-the-clock view of the increasingly heavy traffic in Earth orbit — something the Air Force doesn’t have now.

Currently, the Air Force relies on a ground-based network of radar and optical telescopes around the globe to monitor about 1,000 active satellites and 20,000 pieces of debris. The telescopes can be used only on clear nights, and not all radar stations are powerful enough to detect satellites in deep-space orbit, about 22,000 miles from Earth.

From its orbit about 390 miles above the Earth, the new satellite will have a clear view of deep space, unaffected by daylight or weather.

“It really has tremendous capabilities,” said Todd Citron, director of advanced space and intelligence systems for Boeing Co., prime contractor for the satellite, known as SBSS.

Citron said SBSS will revolutionize “space situational awareness,” the military term for knowing not only where the objects are, but where they’re headed and what might be in their path.

An Air Force official was more cautious.

“We do know that the sensor is going to provide a lot of capability,” said Col. J.R. Jordan, mission director for the SBSS launch and vice commander of the Air Force Space Superiority Systems Wing. “We haven’t really come up with broad statements” about how much SBSS is expected to improve monitoring, Jordan said.

SBSS was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., working with Boeing. It carries an optical camera on a swivel mount, so the camera’s view can be changed without burning fuel to move the satellite, and will concentrate on satellites and debris in deep space. It will beam information to ground stations.

A command center at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., will oversee day-to-day operations of SBSS in orbit. The SBSS system, including ground-control facilities, cost $500 million.