Long Baseline Bistatic Radar for Enhanced Space Domain Awareness at Geosynchronous Orbits

Long baseline bistatic radars herald enhanced sensitivity, characterization, and metric accuracy for clustered objects in Geosynchronous orbits and beyond. Radio tele-scope arrays in particular feature large apertures, low noise temperatures, and stable, synchronized clocks. Pairing radio-telescope arrays with high power-aperture radars creates new opportunities for detecting small targets, rapidly determining orbits, resolving closely spaced objects, and characterizing tumbling or maneuvering targets. Enhancing these aspects of space situational awareness is the focus of NATO's SET-293 Research Task Group. In this paper, we report on long baseline bistatic measurements using the Millstone Hill Radar in the USA and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands. Bistatic link budgets were calculated and validated through multiple data collections. In addition, narrowband characterization of geosynchronous satellite clusters by the long-baseline bistatic radar yielded metrics suitable for space object identification and change detection.