LeoLabs, California Company, specializing in tracking space objects, presented a mobile radar surveillance system, focused on military customers, which hope for improved monitoring of low Earth orbit (LEO), especially in the conditions, as the Pentagon tightens its grip on China's space activities. A new system, presented on April 7 under the name "Scout", is a portable version of the company's stationary station. “Scout” is transported to the desired location by a truck size from a container, that provides rapid deployment-wrapping.
According to Leolabs CEO Tony Fraser, the system was developed with the financial support of small business innovation research. Its purpose is to fill gaps in the existing network of American space surveillance. "We are also studying ways to deploy it on an offshore platform", he said.
The creation of the mobile radar marks the strategic development of LeoLabs at that time, as the US ramps up efforts to monitor Chinese and Russian space activities.
In December, the company presented an ultra-high frequency radar (UHF) in Arizona to track objects in low and very low Earth orbit, including modern missile threats and hypersonic gliders. Leolabs recently entered into a public-private agreement for the amount 60 million US dollars, which was supported, on the deployment of UHF radar in the Indo-Pacific region to 2026 year.
Integrated global network
LeoLabs is integrating these new sensors with its existing phased array radar network, located worldwide in Australia, in the Azores, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Texas. The expansion of the company indicates the demand for observations, Because low Earth orbit is increasingly filled with megasus., And military users are looking for monitoring technologies for more sophisticated spacecraft. In terms of space ships, Strongly maneuver, needed to identify such activities and accompany changes in the parameters of priority object movement.
Behind the words of Fraser, LEOLABS mobile radar system can also be used for missile defense. The company is currently checking the capabilities of its sensors to track hypersonic planning devices, which represent one of the most difficult rocket threats for identifying and intercepting due to their maneuverability and speed.
Source: https://spacenews.com/leolabs-unveils-mobile-radar-for-space-surveillance/