Lame duck: Space Tracking and Surveillance System scores breakthrough in test, but U.S. still wants alternative

摘要

Space Tracking and Surveillance System scores breakthrough in test, but U.S. still wants alternative When the U.S. Missile Defense Agency launched a ballistic missile from Hawaii in March to set the stage for an Aegis anti-missile test later this year, the mission was timed so that a pair of experimental Space Tracking and Surveillance System Satellites could watch as they crossed overhead. Engineers at Northrop Grumman were eager to prove that the twin STSS satellites, which were hard to build and temperamental once in orbit, could serve as a new targeting tool by tracking ballistic missiles through their entire flights. The satellites, whose Raytheon-supplied sensors detect a wide range of infrared wavelengths, would need to follow the test missile from its fiery ascent through its re-entry into the atmosphere. The most challenging part would be keeping track of the missile in space after its engines burn out and it is a cold object barely discernible from its surroundings.