Enabling orbit determination of space debris using narrowband radar

A conceptual radar platform design for detecting space debris down to 1 cm in diameter is presented for space situational awareness. Using known imaging algorithms, we show it is possible to overcome the problems associated with the typically small radar cross sections to yield a radar-attributable vector. Given the latter, the problem of matching the observation to a unique piece of debris is tackled independently of the imaging, or the detection, problem.