Lockheed Martin has opened a New Jersey-based test site for the Space Fence space surveillance system.
The test site will be a smaller version of the main Space Fence facility under construction on Kwajalein Island. "The test facility will be used for early validation of hardware, firmware and software that will enable the Space Fence to detect, track, and catalog orbital objects more than 1.5 million times a day to predict and prevent space-based collisions," said a Lockheed Martin news release. "The test site will also provide early lessons learned on installation of the S-band ground-based radars, support maintenance training and allow engineers to test verification procedures."
Space Fence is designed to track orbital debris. The Kwajalein Island site is scheduled for initial operating capability in 2018.
"The opening of this test facility marks an exciting milestone for Space Fence," said Lockheed Martin Space Fence director Bruce Schafhauser. "We are one step closer to dramatically improving space situational awareness and increasing orbital debris monitoring by tenfold. By using an open-architecture system, Space Fence can adapt to future missions requiring various tracking and coverage approaches."
