Due to the rapidly increasing number of new satellites in space, the independent creation of a space situation picture is not only important for the German Armed Forces of particular importance. Satellite communication and navigation as well as earth observation data are now indispensable for many areas of civilian life in addition to military use and are therefore part of the critical infrastructure. Against this background, the continuous recording and tracking of these space objects is indispensable and has been assigned to the Bundeswehr Space Command (WRKdoBw) as part of civil-military security precautions.
The contract recently signed by the President of the Bundeswehr Procurement Office, Annette Lehnigk-Emden, secures the procurement of a market-available radar for space surveillance and will enable the WRKdoBw to precisely detect a significant proportion of satellites, as well as passive objects such as space debris, and to continuously track their orbits. https://militaeraktuell.at/ranger-test-eratac-blockmontage-am-steyr-aug/ On the occasion of the contract signing, the President of the Procurement Office, Annette Lehnigk-Emden, emphasized: “This project has the clear potential, on the basis of the marketable technology contracted here, to secure us, the Bundeswehr, and the Federal Republic of Germany a pioneering role in Europe in terms of space surveillance capabilities.” The new radar is a key sub-project of the future space surveillance system and will be procured for permanent operation to detect and track objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), i.e. to detect orbits between 200 and 2,000 kilometers above the earth, regardless of the weather and time of day. The LEO range is of particular importance, as over 90 percent of active satellites fly in this range. In future, the collected data will be fed into the Space Situational Awareness Center in Uedem, where it will be processed together with other data to create an overall situation of near-Earth space. As part of the national security strategy, one of the objectives of which is to expand its own space situational awareness capabilities, the Bundeswehr will also make a significant contribution to the collective defense capability of NATO.
In addition to risks from space debris and possible re-entry of space objects, the situation center also assesses the effects of space weather caused by the sun’s activities. To this end, objects in near-Earth space are monitored and, if necessary, clarified in order to create a reliable and unambiguous national object catalog. Based on these results, valid collision forecasts, for example, can be independently ensured along with the timely initiation of evasive maneuvers. Federal and state authorities and satellite operators can also be put in a position to react to space events at an early stage. The civilian part of the joint departmental situation center is provided by the Space Administration at the German Aerospace Center. An additional space surveillance radar to increase data timeliness and quality for a location abroad is optionally anchored in the contract. This will enable the Bundeswehr to further expand its space activities and capabilities with the aim of achieving the most comprehensive space surveillance possible.
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