Slashdot Mirror

Had some fun looking up and finding some more information about the project and why it is being done.
Seems that ONERA, the French aerospace research institute, builds military radar among other things, and their bistatic experiment worked so well it is practically a finished product, so they are expanding it already. The OP project is probably based on this. So these things are dual-use though the OP's ESA project says it is to protect satellites and European citizens.
Overview of ONERA radar products: http://www.onera.fr/demr-en/references.php

Details about the French GRAVES experimental bistatic radar facility and how it works with Germany's TIRA.
So successful they are being upgraded now. France, Australia and Canada cooperate with the USAF.
GRAVES was built in 2004 and is owned by the French arms procurement agency.
GRAVES is for objects in Low Earth Orbit, up to 1000km altitude. The upgrade will allow it to broaden the swath of sky and to eliminate errors in trajectory position to more precisely determine on its own whether or not two objects are destined to collide.
TIRA belongs to the German military. Though the new system is for all Germany not just the military they say.
"... Space situational awareness [is seen] as an important element in Germany’s national sovereignty."
From 2012, TIRA personnel will be trained by French and Americans.
http://www.spacenews.com/military/110531-france-germany-anchor-europe-ssa.html

GRAVES, The French Space Surveillance System
http://www.onera.fr/dcps-en/graves-space-surveillance-system/index.php

Aerial views of GRAVES, apparently. Explains that it can make angular measurements and get radial velocity.
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/GRAVES_French_Radar_Surveillance_Facility.html

A bit more info on the OP article (French so use Google translate)
http://www.smartplanet.fr/smart-technology/un-futur-radar-europeen-contre-les-debris-de-lespace-17211/
It adds:
- work begins Sept. 2012
- The goal is to help European satellite operators to exclude collision risk and improve safety in Earth orbit, an area in which France has recognized expertise, says ESA.
- "The two demonstrators radar will be part of an initial network of sensors that will also include optical telescopes and data processing centers to ensure observation of space debris on all types of orbits. '
- In the case of new experimental radar, the transmitter will be on the influence of the former airbase Crucey-Villages (Eure-et-Loir), about 100 km west of Paris, and the receiver will near Palaiseau (Essonne), south of Paris.
- The SSA ... first phase, the preparatory program, [was] authorized ... in November 2008. As part of this program, the ESA is to acquire the ability to monitor any danger to the area, since the risk of collisions between satellites and space debris to the impact of a celestial body through natural by space weather related to solar activity.
- The SSA program exposes the ESA will provide the final of Europe's ability to detect, predict and evaluate the potential risks to life and property represented by space debris, atmospheric reentry, explosions in orbit launches , collisions, disruption of missions and services using satellites, the potential impacts of NEOs, and the effects of intense space weather events on infrastructure both space and on the ground.
- In summer 2011, a U.S. report had alerted the critical level of waste in orbit . This amount has become so important that it may trigger a snowball e

Had some fun looking up and finding some more information about the project and why it is being done.
Seems that ONERA, the French aerospace research institute, builds military radar among other things, and their bistatic experiment worked so well it is practically a finished product, so they are expanding it already. The OP project is probably based on this. So these things are dual-use though the OP's ESA project says it is to protect satellites and European citizens.
Overview of ONERA radar products: http://www.onera.fr/demr-en/references.php

Details about the French GRAVES experimental bistatic radar facility and how it works with Germany's TIRA.
So successful they are being upgraded now. France, Australia and Canada cooperate with the USAF.
GRAVES was built in 2004 and is owned by the French arms procurement agency.
GRAVES is for objects in Low Earth Orbit, up to 1000km altitude. The upgrade will allow it to broaden the swath of sky and to eliminate errors in trajectory position to more precisely determine on its own whether or not two objects are destined to collide.
TIRA belongs to the German military. Though the new system is for all Germany not just the military they say.
"... Space situational awareness [is seen] as an important element in Germany’s national sovereignty."
From 2012, TIRA personnel will be trained by French and Americans.
http://www.spacenews.com/military/110531-france-germany-anchor-europe-ssa.html

GRAVES, The French Space Surveillance System
http://www.onera.fr/dcps-en/graves-space-surveillance-system/index.php

Aerial views of GRAVES, apparently. Explains that it can make angular measurements and get radial velocity.
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/GRAVES_French_Radar_Surveillance_Facility.html

A bit more info on the OP article (French so use Google translate)
http://www.smartplanet.fr/smart-technology/un-futur-radar-europeen-contre-les-debris-de-lespace-17211/
It adds:
- work begins Sept. 2012
- The goal is to help European satellite operators to exclude collision risk and improve safety in Earth orbit, an area in which France has recognized expertise, says ESA.
- "The two demonstrators radar will be part of an initial network of sensors that will also include optical telescopes and data processing centers to ensure observation of space debris on all types of orbits. '
- In the case of new experimental radar, the transmitter will be on the influence of the former airbase Crucey-Villages (Eure-et-Loir), about 100 km west of Paris, and the receiver will near Palaiseau (Essonne), south of Paris.
- The SSA ... first phase, the preparatory program, [was] authorized ... in November 2008. As part of this program, the ESA is to acquire the ability to monitor any danger to the area, since the risk of collisions between satellites and space debris to the impact of a celestial body through natural by space weather related to solar activity.
- The SSA program exposes the ESA will provide the final of Europe's ability to detect, predict and evaluate the potential risks to life and property represented by space debris, atmospheric reentry, explosions in orbit launches , collisions, disruption of missions and services using satellites, the potential impacts of NEOs, and the effects of intense space weather events on infrastructure both space and on the ground.
- In summer 2011, a U.S. report had alerted the critical level of waste in orbit . This amount has become so important that it may trigger a snowball e

As funny as it sounds, to reduce skin friction, you need to introduce turbulence - a very special type of turbulence. This has been the focus of quite a bit of research especially for aircraft and boats. This link (PDF warning) will explain how this is achieved.

That's not friction. That's drag.

Heinz shaped their bottles specifically so that the ketchup would be harder to get out, thereby adding to the illusion that their product was thicker and better.

As funny as it sounds, to reduce skin friction, you need to introduce turbulence - a very special type of turbulence. This has been the focus of quite a bit of research especially for aircraft and boats. This link (PDF warning) will explain how this is achieved.

It also appears that a big, big part of the systems is invisible: a real time calculator, the size of which is unknown. But it may guzzle some Watts in my opinion....

As for the political aspects of the affair, well... It is certainly very unelegant from the US space authorities to publicize European spy satellites trajectories, and we cannot get accustomed to the sheer amount of unelegance that has flown eastward to Britanny since 2003.

Next, I doubt amateurs could do what Graves does, especially since trajectories can change, thanks to usefull thrusters. Graves is apparently a real time system...
And by the way, would it detect incomming balistic missiles too? That may be useful for the likes of Aster.

We French are generally too ambitious when it comes to weapon systems (not enough money for so many lethal ideas...), but we provide some amusing toys, indeed. I always wondered what were the real possibilities of this ship (http://www.netmarine.net/bat/divers/monge/photos.htm), for instance...

Last but not least: thanks to all Americans that are now bashing French haters, we have heard enough, your support is appreciated. I hope Sarkozy will not be the fool he pretends to be. :-)

It also appears that a big, big part of the systems is invisible: a real time calculator, the size of which is unknown. But it may guzzle some Watts in my opinion....

As for the political aspects of the affair, well... It is certainly very unelegant from the US space authorities to publicize European spy satellites trajectories, and we cannot get accustomed to the sheer amount of unelegance that has flown eastward to Britanny since 2003.

Next, I doubt amateurs could do what Graves does, especially since trajectories can change, thanks to usefull thrusters. Graves is apparently a real time system...
And by the way, would it detect incomming balistic missiles too? That may be useful for the likes of Aster.

We French are generally too ambitious when it comes to weapon systems (not enough money for so many lethal ideas...), but we provide some amusing toys, indeed. I always wondered what were the real possibilities of this ship (http://www.netmarine.net/bat/divers/monge/photos.htm), for instance...

Last but not least: thanks to all Americans that are now bashing French haters, we have heard enough, your support is appreciated. I hope Sarkozy will not be the fool he pretends to be. :-)

Does it matter? Well, the first to build a working waverider aircraft was a Scottish amateur rocketry group. Story has it that when NASA and Boeing engineers saw footage of the vehicle flying, they were staring at the screen in sheer envy. They'd got no further than theory. We also all know the story of the New Zealander who has jet-propelled go-karts and his own low-cost cruise missile. And the Gauss Rifle linked to above didn't look too complex, either.

Although amateurs are very unlikely to be building supersonic or hypersonic spy planes in the near future, none of this looks so complex that it could not be done by other nations in comparable time. Don't think it won't happen - too many potential benefits. Variants will also inevitably be adopted by commercial space planes, as it's so much cheaper than using vanilla rocketry and should be much more reliable.

To me, the only question I think worth asking at this point is who will be there first? Lockheed-Martin, China or Rutan? (And after Lockheed's disastrous hovering shuttle replacement in the late 1990s, it's not wise to just assume they'll automatically win such a race.)