Danger detection in space
Bundeswehr is preparing to combat cosmic threats
12/20/2024 – 11:19 a.mReading time: 2 min.
The infrastructure in space is becoming increasingly important for technology on earth. That’s why Germany wants to be more capable of acting and is getting a ground-based space radar.
The Bundeswehr is receiving its first ground-based radar for precise monitoring of satellites and space debris in space. It’s about the “recording of orbits with an altitude of 200 to 2,000 kilometers, regardless of the weather and time of day,” said the Bundeswehr procurement office in Koblenz.
The independent creation of a space situation picture is of particular importance, it said. Satellite communication and navigation as well as earth observation data were critical infrastructure. In addition to military use, they are also essential for many civilian areas. The detection and tracking of the objects is therefore essential and is assigned to the Bundeswehr’s space command.
The collected data is to be fed into the space situation center in Uedem in North Rhine-Westphalia and processed there with other data to create an overall situation of near-Earth space. The new radar is “an essential sub-project of the future space surveillance system,” it said.
In addition to risks from space debris and possible re-entries of space objects, the situation center also assesses the influences of space weather, triggered by the activities of the sun. The data collected can be used, for example, to make predictions about the collision of objects with the earth.
“This project has the clear potential, based on the market-available technology contracted here, to ensure that we, the Bundeswehr, and the Federal Republic of Germany play a pioneering role in space surveillance capabilities in Europe,” said the President of the Procurement Office, Annette Lehnigk-Emden in a message.
Regarding a possible commissioning date, a spokesman for the procurement office said that they were pursuing “an ambitious schedule” and, given the current geopolitical situation, did not want to provide any information that would allow “conclusions to be drawn about the capabilities of the armed forces.”
No information can be provided about the costs for procurement law reasons. “The usual site investigations are currently underway. As soon as we have a final status, we will provide public information about this,” said the spokesman.