Query: *
Space Surveillance Fence Program Collection
Dates:
1959-2002
Size:
15.11 Cubic feet (13 boxes)
Collection ID:
NASM.2014.0048
Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
The Navy Space Surveillance System (NavSpaSur) was developed between 1958 and 1964 by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) for the detection and tracking of foreign satellites. Operated by the United States Navy from 1961-2004 and thereafter by the US Air Force until its decommissioning in 2013, the system (known as the Space Fence) had three transmitting sites and six receiving stations across the southern United States. Its radar signals detected active satellites and larger pieces of space debris passing through them at altitudes up to 15,000 miles and helped determine their orbital elements. An improved space surveillance radar on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific entered service in 2020.
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