SPACE SURVEILLANCE

摘要

France is among the few countries with a space surveillance capability and the Armee de l'Air deploys sensors that help build up a 'recognised space picture' as part of an expanded concept of air defence. The Grand Reseau Adapte a la Veille Spatiale (GRAVES, a large network adapted to space surveillance) bi-static radar system is designed to detect and track satellites overflying continental France. This is essential to predict the fall of debris on French territory; avoid collisions between debris in space and French active satellites; integrate space into combat operations (detecting foreign reconnaissance satellites to determine when they will overfly the most sensitive military bases); and protect French satellites against hostile activity. The AdIA will shortly set up the Centre Operationnel de Surveillance Militaire des Objets Spatiaux (COSMOS, or operational centre for the military surveillance of objects in space) at Mont-Verdun to conduct all these tasks from a single location.