Infrastructure
Space Situational Awareness Satellites
2016 – U.S. Commercial Space Surveillance
The U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN) was originally designed to alert deployed U.S. sailors of a possible spy satellite’s approach. It also served as a way to prevent irreversible... The…
2016 – Russia: SSA
The Russian Space Surveillance System (RSSS) consists of a network of ground-based radars and optical telescopes, operated by the Russian Defense Ministry’s Space Control Center (TSKKP), which is responsible for…
2016 – European Commercial Space Surveillance
During 2016, European companies noted and seized opportunities within the business of space situational awareness (SSA). Europe’s continued growing dependence on services provided by an orbiting space infrastructure and desire…
2016 – ESA: SSA
As more European-made satellites are launched into Earth’s orbit, more Europeans are realizing the importance of space traffic management (STM) and space situational awareness (SSA). The European Space Agency (ESA)…
2016 – Canada: Sapphire and NEOSSat
Two low Earth orbiting Canadian satellites, Sapphire and NEOSSat, provided spaceborne space situational awareness (SSA) for Canada during 2016. While they are both SSA satellites, they fulfill different SSA missions.…
2016 – U.S. Commercial Space Surveillance
With increased demands for space traffic management (STM) and space situational awareness (SSA), commercial companies, such as Schafer Corporation, formed businesses during 2016 to meet the demand. These commercial STM…
2016 – U.S.: ATRR, GSSAP, ANGELS, and SBSS
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) continued adding space situational awareness (SSA) satellites to the nation’s operational military SSA satellite inventory during 2016. By the end of the year, seven satellites…
2015 – Annual Space Situational Awareness Overview
In simplest terms, space situational awareness (SSA) is knowing what is happening, or possibly may happen, in the space around an object or point. For many organizations, such as the…
2015 – European Commercial Space Surveillance
Collision avoidance is gaining the attention of commercial satellite operators as the Earth’s orbits continue to become more congested. A non-profit association of satellite operators from the Isle of Man,…
2015 – France: SSA
SSA operations in France are shared by the French Air Force and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). The missions for French SSA activities are similar to U.S. military efforts,…