Talk:United States Space Surveillance Network

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MOLYNIA VERSUS MOLNIYA[edit]

I just fixed the spelling for the Molniya satellite reference. However I have a question about the sentence: "Distant Molniya orbiting satellites are often detected in elliptical orbits that surpass the moon and back (245,000 miles out)." I just read up on the Molniya orbits, seems to me that they are typically out to an apogee distance of around 20,000 miles and a perigee of about 700 miles (for a typical 12-hour Molniya orbit). should the moon-distance comment be changed? Lanephil (talk) 18:36, 8 October 2008 (UTC) 08 Oct 2008[reply]

You're right, Molniya orbits do not go beyond the Moon. In fact very few satellites go that far. I deleted teh whole sentence. RogerBurk (talk) 02:39, 22 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

SPACETRACK[edit]

I'm not sure whether SPACETRACK is an old name for the same system, if it's a specific subset of the United States Space Surveillance Network, or if it's an independent system. It would be nice to clarify that and merge if necessary. There does seem to be a lot of historical material in the SPACETRACK article which could just as well belong here; perhaps it would be useful to have a central history article if these systems are not related. I wasn't able to find a lot of information on the web terribly easily, but here are the best links I found so far:

-- Beland 00:26, 3 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, SPACETRACK and the Space Surveillance Network are related. SPACETRACK was the origin of SSN and this nomenclature is still used in the DoD budget process, where a portion of the USAF budget for the line item "SPACETRACK" is devoted to the SSN. But SPACETRACK includes additional items as well. So, they aren't the same.

For example, look at the DoD budget detail for 2002 available at - http://www.js.pentagon.mil/descriptivesum/Y2003/AirForce/0305910F.pdf You'll see that the program identified as "SPACETRACK" budgeted for fiscal years 2001-2007 includes 4 items - 4279 Have Stare Radar, 4791 GEODSS Sustainment, 4930 Space Based Space Surveillance, and 5011 Space Situational Awareness Initiatives.

You'll see that according to this budget request, "The SPACETRACK program element represents a worldwide Space Surveillance Network (SSN) of dedicated, collateral, and contributing electro-optical, passive radio frequency (RF) and radar sensors. The SSN is tasked to provide space object identification and cataloging, satellite attack warning, timely notification to U.S. forces of satellite fly-over, space treaty monitoring, and scientific and technical intelligence gathering. The continued increase in satellite and orbital debris populations, as well as the increasing diversity in launch trajectories, non-standard orbits, and geosynchronous altitudes, necessitates continued modernization of the SSN to meet existing and future requirements and ensure their cost-effective supportability. The resources and responsibility for completing the HAVE STARE Radar System development were transferred to SPACETRACK from an intelligence program per Congressional direction in FY93."

From year to year, in the budgeting process, the SPACETRACK responsibilities have varied with various components in addition to the SSN.

The rationale for a separate Wikipedia item/page for "Spacetrack" is that this term has no generally available resource to explain its origin, history, technology, and present status. Many of us have worked on various aspects of SPACETRACK and it seems a pity that its identity was not translated into a coherent and accurate summary of its aims and achievements.

So, for these reasons I would favor a separate identity for SPACETRACK with links to related programs and components in the Wikipedia.

Thanks, mv

Satellites collide[edit]

Two satellites collided in February 2009, one a functioning Iridium US satellite, the other, a defunct Russian one. There seems to be no indication that this network knew that it would happen. Why not? Student7 (talk) 02:00, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, this should be researched if it hasn't already been done. Kevinmon (talk) 20:09, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

FPS-17 History Changes[edit]

I have posted a revision of the history of the FPS-17 radars, making some major corrections to long-standing errors. The Diyarbakir radar was the first, not the Laredo radar. This is now quite clear from multiple sources. This, in turn, changes the length of time it took to field the first FPS-17, 9 months for the Diyarbakir site (as hard as that is to believe these days) and the Laredo site was the one that came in less than 2 years. The Laredo radar was not based at Laredo AFB (Air Force Base), the large training base, but a small site, Laredo AFS (Air Force Station). It also had some minor variations to its name at different times in its lifetime. I also have added a bit more technical detail about the radars and explanation that the three FPS-17s were not identical (handy info if you look at photos of the sites & wonder why the quantity of antennas aren't the same). I believe the story about Laredo being the first originated from documents of the period when the existence of Diyarbakir was still classified.Hwhall (talk) 21:47, 17 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

FPS-79 Changes[edit]

Made minor edits to place the radar in past tense, and added sentence to say the site closed in 1997. There are probably some more changes needed. For one thing, the antenna size is definitely incorrect. Also, I believe the "variable focus" information to be incorrect, and I think I have traced the original reference for the claim (which is not in any of the current footnotes).Hwhall (talk) 18:22, 18 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Improving on aging technology[edit]

GEODSS uses "low-light level TV cameras" for detectors. I suspect much fainter objects could be detected, and at better angular resolution, if these were replaced with modern sensors -- such as this consumer-grade 41-megapixel CMOS sensor.

To drive the point home, detecting fainter objects means having awareness of smaller bits of dangerous space debris that are currently going undetected. 71.219.204.88 (talk) 13:45, 27 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Antigua and Australia[edit]

The C-band radar in Antigua is to be relocated to Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt in Exmouth, Western Australia.[1][2] There is no mention of either site in this article. 203.9.185.136 (talk) 01:47, 19 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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