The Air Force acquired it Space Surveillance Telescope able to quickly discover and monitor small objects that could threaten the satellites.
La Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency transferred the telescope's ownership to the Space Command Air Force Space during a ceremony at the White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico.
The SST will be transferred to Australia and jointly managed by the two countries. This is what DARPA reports.
In 2013, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Australian Defense Minister David Johnston signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to transfer the telescope to the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Station, in Western Australia. Once operational, the SST will again be integrated into the Space Surveillance Network of the United States.
Designed for space situational awareness, the telescope should help prevent possible collisions with satellites in orbit at 25 miles and be able to detect the entire geosynchronous belt within its field of view multiple times in a single night. The SST will reach the initial operational capacity in the 2020.
Lo Space Surveillance Telescope has observed 2,2 million asteroids in the 2014 and 7,2 million in the 2015. 2016 estimates 10 million asteroids for the XNUMX.
(photo: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
