Photo Credit: ICRAR Curtin |
Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have developed a low cost, portable sensor system which can be used to detect space junk, satellites, and aircraft.
The portable Space Domain Awareness (SDA) project is part of a Collaborative Research Grant funded by the Government of Western Australia’s Defense Science Centre. Developed by researchers from ICRAR’s Curtin University node, the SDA project translates the technologies used in radio astronomy to create an inexpensive, flexible, and portable passive radar system.
Unlike conventional radar systems, which deliberately transmit a known signal, a passive radar system makes use of third-party transmissions such as broadcast radio and TV signals to detect objects without revealing its own existence.
Associate Professor Randall Wayth from ICRAR-Curtin is the project’s lead researcher and says the 32-antenna system could be configured for several different applications.
“Our system is highly portable, sensitive, and invisible to many typical or commercial detection systems, making it ideal for deployment in remote environments and Defense scenarios,” said Associate Professor Wayth.