Radar detection of mid-size debris

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Worldwide there is growing awareness of the hazard and long-term consequences of space debris to space activities and astronomical research. Ground based radars and telescopes have been used to measure the population of space objects in the size range from few millimeters up to tens of meters. Based on these measurements various models were developed to describe the orbital debris environment. Since this environment continues to change due to a variety of space debris sources and sinks, it will be necessary to monitor the future evolution. Measurements will be necessary to determine effects of new fragmentations, to check the effectiveness of debris control and mitigation techniques, and to test and validate the prediction results of space debris environment models, which are important for design and operation of spacecraft. This paper describes some results of a FGAN-FHP research activity, which was contracted with ESA/ESOC. Main objective was the investigation of modifications to the existing Tracking & Imaging Radar (TIRA) System for detecting and tracking mid-size space objects in low Earth orbits. The study included development of alternative concepts for special tracking techniques, radar signal processing, data handling and processing algorithms. To demonstrate the feasibility of the suggested concept several measurement campaigns were conducted. Data was collected during conventional tracking of space objects as well as in the beam-park-mode of operation in which the radar stares in a defined fixed direction and space objects are crossing the field-of-view (FOV). In a next step the realisation of the improvements are planned.