Lokheed

American aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin has successfully completed critical design review (CDR) of its Space Fence Programme, which is being developed to detect and track Earth orbiting objects.

The Space Fence S-band radar system will detect, track, and catalogue orbital objects in space more than 1.5 million times a day to predict and prevent space-based collisions.

The CDR found that the Space Fence System, including the large-scale digital radar and turn-key facility to be technically mature.

In the review, a small-scale system built with end-item components that detected and tracked orbiting space objects has been displayed.

Space Fence system will use ground-based S-band radars to observe Earth orbiting objects, especially in low-orbit, which will help US Air Force to effectively identify and track objects in space.

Lockheed Martin’s Space Fence design will improve the efficiency, with which operators can detect space events that could present potential threats to GPS satellites or the International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Systems Mission Systems and Training business’s vice-president Steve Bruce said: "Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction of the Space Fence system.

"Once complete, Space Fence will deliver revolutionary capability to the US Air Force with a flexible system capable of adapting to future missions requiring new tracking and coverage approaches.

"We look forward to continuing our successful partnerships with the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Life Cycle Management Center and Space Command."

"Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction."

Lockheed Martin uses the latest monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology, including Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor materials in the Space Fence radar open architecture design.

GaN provides several advantages for active phased array radar systems, such as higher power density, greater efficiency and considerably improved reliability over previous technologies.

Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin opened its new six-acre Space Fence site in Kwajalein Island, situated 2,100 miles southwest of Honolulu. It also constructed radar arrays in high-winds and seismic loads enabled buildings.

The Space Fence will be ready for initial operation in 2018 and will replace the existing Air Force space surveillance system, or VHF Fence, which was built in the early 1960s.

Image: Construction of world’s largest digital phased array radar in Kwajalein Island. Photo courtsey of Lockheed Martin.