Global Space Situational Awareness Sensors

Abstract

Space situational awareness (SSA) is an essential and integral piece of space operations. Although the U.S. military's Space Surveillance Network (SSN) is currently the single best source of SSA in the world, it does not provide the level of SSA currently needed to support space operations. The lack of geographical sensor distribution and coverage outside of the continental U.S., particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, is a significant limitation of the SSN. There exist a large number of individual sensors across the globe and smaller sensor networks which already provide some level of SSA data to various users, and could also provide data to support the U.S. need for SSA. These sensors are being developed for a variety of missions, including space surveillance, missile warning, missile defense and testing, and scientific applications.