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Shiny New Space Fence To Monitor Orbiting Junk

Posted by samzenpus on from the good-space-fences-make-good-neighbors dept.

coondoggie writes "Some work has begun on tracking and detecting the overabundance of space junk which has become a growing priority as all manner of satellites, rockets and possible commercial space shots are promised in the coming few years. Today Northrop Grumman said it grabbed $30 million from the US Air Force to start developing the first phase of a global space surveillance ground radar system. The new S-Band Space Fence is part of the Department of Defense's effort to detect and track what are known as resident space objects (RSO), consisting of thousands of pieces of space debris as well as commercial and military satellites. The new Space Fence will replace the current VHF Air Force Space Surveillance System built in 1961."

2 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Even money bet that Northrup Grumman by yourpusher · · Score: 3, Insightful

    has created a sizeable percentage of the space-junk it's now offering to track.

    Nifty business model, that.

  2. Re:Deorbit by securityfolk · · Score: 2, Insightful
    One problem with that - it's *cold* up there. The water would probably freeze the instant you launched it at something. Now, you could always put a heater up there to keep the water warm, but that results in more space junk.

    Me, I think a giant space vacuum cleaner would do the job.. we just need to borrow one from the folk at Space Balls.

    Now *that's* thinkin with yer dipstick!