Orbital debris radar instrumentation

Abstract

In order to increase the usefulness of Goldstone orbital debris observations, several improvements are planned to the experimental Goldstone radar. The first improvement is to add a ranging capability of 1-km accuracy to the radar. This would provide much more detailed information about whatever debris is observed. The second improvement is to widen the bandwidth of the system from 10 kHz to 85 kHz so that particles in more elliptical orbits can be monitored. The two antennas could then also be pointed away from the zenith, say south, where orbits of lesser inclination might also be observed. In any case, the addition of ranging requires a substantial increase of system bandwidth. This article describes the instrumentation necessary to achieve this, together with required signal-processing modifications.