Brig. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Director of Operations and Communications, United States Space Force, formally declared initial operational capability and operational acceptance of the Space Fence radar system, located on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, March 27, 2020. Photo is courtesy of the USAF.
Space Fence provides significantly improved space surveillance capabilities to detect and track orbiting objects such as commercial and military satellites, depleted rocket boosters and space debris in low, medium, and geosynchronous Earth orbit regimes.
Before Space Fence, the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) tracked more than 26,000 objects. With the initial operational capability and operational acceptance of Space Fence, the catalog size is expected to increase significantly over time. Information about objects tracked by the SSN is placed in the space catalog on www.space-track.org.
The Space Fence Program Office (AFLCMC/HBQB) operating under the acquisition authority of the Space and Missile System Center awarded a contract to the Lockheed Martin in June of 2014 to develop Space Fence. This system is the most sensitive search radar in the SSN, capable of detecting objects in orbit as small as a marble in low earth orbit (LEO).
An aerial view of the Space Fence facility located on Kwajalein Atoll.
Image is courtesy of Lockheed Martin.
Space Fence is operated by the 20th Space Control Squadron (SPCS), Detachment 4, at the Space Fence Operations Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and provides data to the 18 SPCS located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The 18 SPCS uses the data from Space Fence and other sensors within the SSN to maintain the space object catalog and screen operational satellites, both maneuverable and non-maneuverable, against all objects in the space catalog, which includes satellites, rocket bodies and debris
Space Fence provides precise positional data for Space Domain Awareness to maintain a robust and accurate space object catalog, ensure orbital safety, and provide early warning for conjunction events and indications of potential threats.
Both the 18th SPCS and 20th SPCS are part of the 21st Space Wing, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 21st SW is the Department of the Air Force’s only wing providing ground-based missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance data in defense of North America and its allies.
General Jay Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, USSF and Commander, U.S. Space Command, said Space Fence is revolutionizing the way space is viewed by providing timely, precise orbital data on objects that threaten both manned and unmanned military and commercial space assets. These space capabilities are critical to the national defense and way of life, which is why Space Fence is so important to enhance the ability to identify, characterize and track threats to those systems.
Lt. Col. David Tipton, 20th SPCS commander, noted that space is now recognized as a congested and contested domain and Space Fence is the next evolution in the efforts to maintain space superiority.
Story by 2nd Lt. Kristen Shimkus, U.S. Space Force Public Affairs
