The activity derives from an exploratory mandate of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers which delegated an Air Force officer to carry out the function of national representative in the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Framework Program, the "consortium for the space surveillance and monitoring ".
The program, initiated and funded by the European Commission, is aimed at the census, collection and coordination of all the radar and optical information available among the participating nations to reduce the risk of collisions between efficient orbital systems and disused satellites or space debris.
On the basis of the previous experimentation activities that the Armed Forces conducted already in the 2013 in collaboration with the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and by virtue of the fact that this activity falls within the competence of Institute for the control and defense of airspace, the 4 ^ TLC / DA / AV Brigade, the Pratica di Mare Flight Experimental Department and the Selex ES company jointly conducted tests to verify the potential of SST Radar RAT 31 system DL FADR, already integrated in the National Air Defense chain.
The activity, started since last December, has therefore seen the specialists of the Armed Forces and the technical personnel of the national industry operate on the Radar system, present on the site of Borgo Sabotino (LT), to characterize the functions of the system itself in order to allow the identification of those objects present beyond the atmosphere, the so-called space debris, which constitute a danger for the numerous satellite and space systems now indispensable for the functioning of strategic services (air navigation, remote sensing, meteorology, etc.) and communication (TV, telephony, etc.).
The AM's main focus is on the topic, being able to provide a valid contribution to Italy's interest in the active participation in the SST Consortium for the safeguarding of assets and investments in the space sector, both in the context of national or partnership programs (programs Galileo, Copernicus, SICRAL, ATHENA FIDUS, COSMO Skymed, meteorological satellites, etc.).
The experience conducted at the 4th TLC / DA / AV Brigade had a positive outcome and, together with the aforementioned activities conducted since 2013 with INAF and ASI, provided the results that allowed the "Italian System" to submission to the European Commission of the application for participation in the Space Surveillance and Tracking Consortium.
Source: 3 Logistic Command ^ Division - Rome - t. with the. Luca Pippa
