Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Observatory

Why in news?

• India’s first commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Observatory will be set up in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.
• The observatory will be set up by Digantara, a Bengaluru-based space sector start-up.

About the Observatory:

• The observatory will be the first-of-its-kind in the region, set up to augment the start-up’s SSA capabilities.
• It will be strategically positioned to serve global space traffic management operations.
• It will assist in tracking any activity in space including that of space debris and military satellites hovering over the region.
• At present, the US is a dominant player in monitoring space debris.

What is SSA?

• Space Situational Awareness (SSA) refers to keeping track of objects in orbit and predicting where they will be at any given time.
• It involves monitoring the movement of all objects — natural (meteors) and man-made (satellites) — and tracking space weather.
• SSA is generally understood as covering three main areas:
  • Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) of man-made objects.
  • Space Weather (SWE) monitoring and forecast.
  • Near-Earth Objects (NEO) monitoring (only natural space objects).

India’s SSA Capability:

• At present, India uses a Multi Object Tracking Radar at Sriharikota range (Andhra Pradesh), but it has a limited range.
• Further, for SSA, India depends on data from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) and others available in the public domain.
• However, these platforms don’t provide accurate or comprehensive information.

Nodal Agency:

• ISRO's efforts towards SSA is coordinated by the SSA Control Centre in Bengaluru and managed by the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management at the ISRO headquarters.

Related Initiatives:

• Project NETRA:
  • It is an early warning system in space to detect space debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
  • Once operational, it will give India its own capability in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) like the other space powers.
  • Under this project, a space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted
• Clearspace-1:
  • At global level, this initiative of the European Space Agency, scheduled to launch in 2025, will be the first space mission to eliminate debris from orbit.

Significance of the upcoming SSA observatory:

• Reduce Collision Rates:
  • The observatory is designed with a capability to track objects as small as 10cm (in size).
  • It would be able to reduce the potential for collisions between satellites and other spacecraft by making more accurate predictions of their location, speed, and trajectory
• Tracking and Identifying Pre-Existing Resident Space Objects (RSO):
• Enhancing Indigenous Capabilities:
  • Promoting development of such critical technology and infrastructure is necessary towards building indigenous resilient capabilities and compete on a global stage.
  • It will result in the creation of a hybrid data pool that will serve both the commercial and the defence sectors of the space industry.
• Supplement Global Networks:
  • A data gap has been witnessed due to the lack of dedicated SSA sensors between Australia and southern Africa
  • The observatory will play a vital role in monitoring space activities above the Indian subcontinent, relaying real-time data essential to safeguard the Indian assets.

PRACTICE QUESTION

In the context of Indian space sector, consider the following statements:

1. Project NETRA is an early warning system in space to detect space debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.

2. India is the first country to have a commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Observatory

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

                         A

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