LeoLabs has built a giant space radar in Costa Rica that can track orbital debris as small as two centimeters.
LeoLabs, a company that provides commercial radar tracking services for objects in Low Earth Orbit, has declared the site fully operational.
Costa Rica's Space Radar
On Apr. 22, LeoLabs announced that the two S-band radars in Costa Rica have started tracking objects in low Earth orbit and is now delivering data to customers.
Dan Ceperley, the CEO of LeoLabs, told Space News that it is the most advanced commercial space radar of its kind, one that is capable of tracking objects the size of a golf ball traveling at up 30,000 kilometers per hour.
Ceperley added that it is the first radar in their network that tracks objects in low inclination orbits and the space radar completes their coverage of low Earth orbit.
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LeoLabs gathers data from six phased-array radars at four sites. The Silicon Valley firm operatres a UHF radar in Texas and makes observations with a National Science Foundation radar in Alaska.
Like in New Zealand, LeoLabs operates two S-band radars in Costa Rica on a single site to detect and track small space objects, according to Engadget.
Since it was founded in 2015, LeoLabs has been mapping spacecraft and debris in low Earth orbit. The firm's initial radars were designed to pinpoint objects as small as 10 centimeters. With the Kiwi Space Radar unveiled in 2019, LeoLabs began observing objects as small as 2 centimeters.
How the Space Radar Works
Having a second S-band radar site is the key for them to be able to track and maintain custody of objects smaller than 10 centimeters, according to Ed Lu, LeoLabs co-founder and vice president of strategic projects.
The radar can keep an eye on both the active satellites and space junk, which make up the majority of objects found in LEO, Reuters reported.
Space junk has been occupying the Earth's orbit over the past few decades, and it is only bound to become a bigger issue in the coming years as private companies launch more and more massive satellite constellations.
Debris flying around in space is a huge threat to the ISS and future manned missions, giving rise to the need for a company like LeoLabs.
Lu added that the number one danger to astronauts aboard the International Space Station or ISS has been and is today the risk of orbital debris that is too small to be tracked by the US Department of Defense going through the hull.
Now that the Costa Rica site is online, LeoLabs now has full coverage of the Low Earth Orbit with its 4 existing radars. It plans to create more radars in other locations to make sure that it can keep up with the activities in Low Earth Orbit, which will most likely become even more congested in the future.
Ceperley also said that Costa Rican officials helped them make sure that they were able to meet all of the local requirements and engage in a positive manner.
Ceperley added that it is critical that they develop a positive relationship with the local government, with the national government and with agencies because they want the site to be powering space traffic management in the future.
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Written by Sophie Webster
