STO-Activities: (no title)

Activity title: Multistatic RF Sensing for Enhanced Space Domain Awareness
Activity Reference: SET-340
Panel: SET
Security Classification: Other
Status: Active
Activity type: RTG
Start date: 2024-03-04T00:00:00Z
Actual End date: 2027-03-04T00:00:00Z
Keywords: GEO, LEO, Multistatic Radar, RSO characterization, SET, Space Domain Awareness SDA, Space Surveillance and Tracking SST
Background: NATO acknowledges that the space domain is increasingly important to the Alliance and Allies’ security and prosperity. They recognize that space is becoming more crowded and contested and that satellites are vulnerable to emerging counterspace capabilities and intentions. Between 2019 and 2021 the combined operational space fleets of China and Russia have grown by 70 percent. Along with the growth of their space fleets, they have developed and tested a wide range of counterspace technologies. In response, NATO adopted a new Space Policy and declared space an operational domain. A key NATO need to meet the evolving space threat is a dynamic understanding of space activities., Space Domain Awareness (SDA), in or near Geosynchronous orbits (GEO), and, particularly, a tactical awareness of maneuvering satellites and multiple satellites in close proximity to NATO assets.
A number of NATO task groups have and are, addressing SDA. SCI-311 and follow on SCI-SET-355 Task Groups focus on establishing a common protocol to exchange data between NATO nations and to conduct some experiments where data is collected, exchanged and fused to improve SDA. Recent space focused meetings include SET-297, a Specialists’ meeting held in 2022 on Space Situational Awareness and SET-311, the 10th NATO Military Sensing Symposium, held in April 2023, have highlighted the need and interest in creating a better, more tactical space “picture” of adversary activity.
Radar detection and tracking of resident space objects in Geosynchronous (GEO) orbits is challenging due to the loss in sensitivity at the extreme distance of 36,000 km and because of the proliferation of small satellites with decreased radar cross section. One option to increase sensitivity of existing monostatic radar sensors is to employ large aperture radio telescopes configured as bistatic receivers. Moreover, multiple receivers would enable a multi-bistatic configuration with additional performance improvement in terms of both detection and tracking.
This radar multistatic concept for GEO SDA is the main focus of SET-293, RF Sensing for Space Situational Awareness, which has demonstrated pairing radio-telescope arrays with high-power radars creates new opportunities for rapidly determining orbits, correlating closely spaced objects, and characterizing tumbling or maneuvering targets. SET-293 very successfully assembled a consortium of NATO partners (11 active organizations in 7 countries) that have provided large, national sensors (10 sensors across 5 nations) and signal processing expertise to explore new and advanced techniques for multi-target detection, tracking and characterization at challenging GEO distances. In addition to this, passive radar technologies have also been studied and tested within SET-293 providing new avenues for detecting and tracking objects at LEO by exploiting signals of opportunity. Last but not least, modern phased array radar network technology has been proposed as a solution for surveillance at LEO. The Task Group has generated 5 publications (with broad participation) and a sixth is planned.
The effort proposed here is a follow-on to SET-293, with the goal to expand the number of countries and sensors involved (both in number and operating frequency) to further enhance NATO SDA and to prototype some initial operational concepts that could provide capability to NATO militaries. The membership of SET-293 is enthusiastic and committed to continue this effort expanding the data collections to include new sensors (e.g. Goonhilly (UK) paired with HUSIR (US)) to explore higher bandwidth collections for greater satellite characterization and enhanced signal processing to for closely spaced targets. Additionally, SET-293 has engaged with several countries’ militaries to explore the concept for developing an initial prototype SDA capability using national radiotelescopes. Furthering this concept is planned for the new RTG.
Objectives: Conduct Long Baseline multi-Bistatic Radar (LBBR) experiments for GEO and near GEO satellite for multi-target discovery, multi-target tracking and characterization and multistatic multi-receiver passive radar system for LEO observation.
The following objectives will be pursued:
• Experiment set-up for additional new sensors (beyond those for SET-293) conducting bistatic radar (LBBR) experiment for the discovery, detection, tracking and characterization of GEO RSOs.
• LBBR experiment execution and data analysis employing sensors from SET-293 and for new sensors anticipated to participate.
• Exploring very long dwell times to achieve maximum coherence time for transmitter receiver pairs and establishing the minimum detectable target size, e.g. HUSIR-X & Goonhilly improved sensitivity and bandwidth
• LBBR system analysis with focus to recommend a near-term concept for initial SDA capability
• Development of algorithms and CONOPs for the discovery, detection and multi-target tracking and characterization of GEO RSOs using multi-bistatic radar systems
• Algorithms development for LEO RSO characterisation
• Innovative technology for Passive Radar-based SST
Topics: • Novel/improved algorithms for multi-target detection and tracking of RSOs
• Detection and tracking with bistatic and multistatic radar systems for SDA
• RSO features extraction
• Attitude estimation
• Radar satellite imaging
• Long baseline multistatic passive radar for SST
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Created at 06/10/2023 12:00 by System Account
Last modified at 16/05/2024 12:00 by System Account
 
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